DOHA (Qatar): Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut along with four other women players earned Tokyo Olympics tickets after winning the second stage finals of World Singles Qualification Tournament here at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena on Wednesday.
Sawettabut overcame Spain’s Maria Xiao 13-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 to join the Netherland’s Britt Eerland, Sweden’s Linda Bergström, Russia’s Polina Mikhailova and Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin in securing qualification.
“I feel very happy to have qualified for the Olympics. This will be my second Olympics. It was very difficult. She is a left-hander and played very well. I tried my best to calm down and play it point by point,” Suthasini Sawettabut told ITTF.com
In the men’s category, Russia’s Kirill Skachkov overcame Great Britain’s No.1 seed Liam Pitchford 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-7 in the other final to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
Skachkov became the fourth man after Czech Republic’s Lubomir Jancarik, Hungary’s Bence Majoros and Slovakia’s Wang Yang.
Nine Olympic berths were up for grabs from the competition, which was organised by the Qatar Table Tennis Association.
