TABLE TENNIS – BAHRAIN swept their three group matches yesterday in the men’s teams’ tournament at the 29th ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships 2026, currently being played in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The kingdom’s senior men’s table tennis national team are taking part in the event with the quartet of Rashed Sanad, Mohamed Saleh, Ali Saleh, and Salman Abuhamda.
Competing in Group Seven of their competition’s first phase, the Bahrainis won against Jordan 3-1, against Mongolia 3-0, and then against Kuwait 3-1 to complete a perfect day at the Uzbek capital and secure first place in their pool.
Bahrain are next set to face off with Kyrgyzstan today morning in one of six clashes in preliminary round one. In the other fixtures, hosts Uzbekistan play Thailand, Indonesia take on Malaysia, Iraq face Jordan, Iran battle Macau, and the Philippines lock horns with Saudi Arabia.
Games in the second preliminary round will then set up the pairings in the knockouts, beginning with the quarter-finals.
The championships are being run by the International Table Tennis Federation in cooperation (ITTF) with the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU). Action is taking place at Tashkent’s Olympic Town.
The nationals are in the event along with Bahrain Table Tennis Association (BTTA) president and ATTU vice-president for West Asia Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, BTTA board member Bader Saleh Shamsan, and national team coach Ammar Reza.
The Bahrainis were one of 28 squads that started the men’s teams’ event. The field was divided into seven groups for the opening stage.
Bahrain got their match against Jordan underway with Saleh suffering a narrow 2-3 (4-11, 12-10, 11-6, 7-11, 5-11) defeat against Zaid Abo Yaman. But Sanad bounced back right away with a 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9) win against Zeyad Aldmaisy to bring the contest back on level terms.
Abuhamda then took to the table and won against Taqi Al-Din Al Najadat 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-2), and then Sanad completed their comeback after overcoming Jordan’s Abo Yaman 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7) to seal the result.
The Bahrainis then claimed their second match win in a row with their class performance against Mongolia.
Saleh once again got things underway for the nationals and he beat Temuulen Myandal 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-9). Sanad was then a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-6) victor against Tarvachinbo Buyan, and then Abuhamda made it three from three with his 3-0 (11-7, 11-1, 11-2) rout of Usukhbayar Tuvshinjargal.
The Bahrainis then completed their men’s teams’ schedule yesterday against their Gulf rivals Kuwait.
Saleh took the first head-to-head against Abdullah Alhadad 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-7), but then Sanad went down fighting against Meshal Alkanderi 2-3 (10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 10-12.
Ali Saleh then got his first action of the championships and did not disappoint, beating Abdullah Almkeemy 3-1 (11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6), setting up Sanad’s clinching victory against Alhadad 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-5).
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