Mohamed Abdulwahab targets Olympics as he credits aspire academy for table tennis success

 

Mohamed Abdulwahab targets Olympics as he credits aspire academy for table tennis success

Doha, Qatar:  Mohamed Abdulwahab says that Aspire Academy is a key part of his success

as a top-class table tennis player.

Earlier this month the 24-year-old represented Qatar at the Arab Table Tennis

Championships in Iraq where he was crowned men’s singles champion.

He also won silver in the men’s doubles with Ahmed Khalil, who graduated

from Aspire with the first batch of student-athletes in 2008.

In July the duo teamed up to win bronze in the men’s doubles at the Arab

Games in Algeria and were both part of the team that won team bronze as

well.

Adulwahab already has new targets ahead including the Asian Table Tennis

Championships in South Korea and the Asian Games in China, with both

events taking place in September.

There are also World Table Tennis (WTT) world tour events later this year,

but his main dream is the Summer Olympics in Paris 2024.

“The main target and goal for me is qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics,

that is a dream of mine,” he said.

“For the 2020 Tokyo games, I was just turning 20 years old and had a good

run and a big chance in the qualifying but now I hope to be more than ready to

make my dream come true.”

Abdulwahab graduated from Aspire in 2017 and continued to receive backing

from the Academy for a further three years.

“Aspire has played a massive role in my career,” he explained.

“I joined Aspire at 12 years old and was there until I graduated from high

school at 18 and then I stayed with them for three more years as a

scholarship athlete.”

“So, the journey and the support and even let’s say the love I have received

from Aspire Academy throughout this journey has been huge and they are a

key factor to me reaching this achievement.”

 

Abdulwahab, who also trains with the Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA),

was part of the Qatar Sports Club team that earlier this year won a sixth

straight Amir Cup title.

He says all the training and hard work has paid dividends over the last few

months.

“Throughout the year, we are preparing for these tournaments but in the last

couple of months, this training intensifies and increases because we know

what goals we have set ourselves which is to get medals for Qatar,” he

explained.

“I have been blessed and lucky enough to have achieved many things since I

was a student at Aspire Academy; like being the Arab Champion at under 15

and at under 21 as well as winning many ITTF tournaments, both as a junior

and a senior.”

“But definitely becoming the Arab men’s champion has been a childhood

dream, to me winning, this tournament really means a lot.”

Another key lesson that Abdulwahab has learnt from his time at Aspire

Academy is how to combine his successful sports career with continuing his

education.

Since graduating he has earned a bachelor’s degree and a master's from

Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom.

As well as Mohamed Abdulwahab’s gold there were three more singles

medals for Aspire Academy student-athletes at the Arab Championships as

Ahmed Korani Eid, and Mohamed Al-Sulaiti won silvers in the under-15’s and

under 13’s respectively. Sultan Al-Kuwari claimed bronze in the under-15’s.

In the doubles events Sultan Al-Kuwari and Ahmed Al-Korani teamed up to

claim silver in the under-15’s.

There was a bronze medal for Mohamed’s younger brother Abdullah

Abdelwahab, who graduated in June, alongside current student-athlete

Rawad Al-Nasser in the under-19’s doubles.

There was even more success in the under-15’s as student-athletes Sultan

Al-Kuwari, Ahmed Korani Eid, Rawad Al-Nasser, Youssef Abdalla, Obad Al

Abdulla won silver in the team competition.