JEDDAH, 19 July 2004 — LG Electronics, which conducted three table tennis tournaments in Jeddah in the past three years, yesterday announced its first tournament in the Eastern Province (EP). The invitational EP table tennis tournament for amateurs is set for two days from Sept. 16 at Ittifaq Club.
About 130 players are expected to take part in the EP tournament. The recenet Jeddah TT tournament had 180 players in fray, drawn mostly from the Western Province. A few from the Eastern and Central provinces also took part.
“The enthusiasm of EP table tennis players has encouraged us to conduct a tournament for the province,” LG General Manager C.K. Cho told a press conference.
The tournament will be an invitational marathon. “It will be for amateurs and we as the organizers have invited entries from players who wish to participate,” Cho said.
There will be two categories of winners — Singles and Doubles whose champions will receive trophies and LG products.
The tournament is dubbed a marathon, as it starts on Sept. 16 and will continue on the following day concluding with a prize distribution ceremony. Participating players will also figure in a raffle.
LG and its local distributors United Yousef M. Naghi Co. Ltd., H.G. Ibrahim Shaker and J. Al-Jasim Electronics are partners in sponsoring the tournament. “It’s our joint effort that has resulted in great events,” Cho said, adding that depending on the success of the EP tournament LG would consider conducting a similar tournament for the Central Province in Riyadh next year. The Korean electronics giant is a “trendsetter” in terms of social and sports marketing, he added.
Players who wish to participate in the EP tournament should fax its organizer, Asadullah Ghalib of the Jeddah Table Tennis League on 02-673-3781 or contact Amir Chehab in Alkhobar on Tel. No. 03-814-0072 or Fax: 03-814-0073. LG office in Jeddah is accessible on Tel. No. 02-256-6367 or 256-1581. The last date for receiving entries is Aug. 30.
There is no entry fee for players. All participants are required to fill out the entry forms and meet the requirements mentioned therein.
Cho said LG would consider organizing regional tournaments annually and subsequently a national tournament. “We’re trying to penetrate into as many sporting arenas as possible,” he said, adding that interschool competitions and the establishment of a dedicated TT club will be among LG’s proposals for future consideration.
“The tournament is for amateurs only,” he said, adding that only registered players will be allowed to play.
Every match will be based on the best of five games and each game will consist of 11 points. All matches will be played on a knockout basis. Winners of LG TT tournaments in 2002 and 2003 cannot participate in the tournament.
