The Kuwait junior men's squad took silver at the 24th Arab Table Tennis Championships in Jordan, making an impressive debut in the competition.
The juniors lost the final of the tournament, which also includes national men and women senior and youth sides, to Egypt by 3-1 sets but should take pride in their display, according to coach Dakheel Al-Habshi.
"It was a tough match for both sides, where the experience of the Egyptians played a huge role in their victory over the Kuwaitis, who took part in their first international competitive tournament," he said following the encounter.
The junior squad members, namely Abdallah Baroun, Mohammad Dahrab, Mohammad Al-Khaleel and Othman Al-Sowailim, were praised by the coach as having made a "good accomplishment that proves the scope of talent in Kuwait and a good future for Kuwaiti table tennis." Meanwhile, Kuwait's U-15s qualified to their own semi-finals after coming second in their group, beating Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia on the way but being thwarted by the Egyptians once again in a close-fought 3-2 set defeat.
The side, including Abdallah Al-Bahrani, Marzouq Al-Rasheedi and Mishal Al-Kanderi, are set to face Iraq in the semi-final, in an important clash the coach hopes they will win, and thus challenge for the title.
Source: KUNA