WTT Youth Contender 2026:
Faraji finishes joint-third in U19 singles for second trophy in Doha
Iranian table tennis wonderkid Benyamin Faraji secured a second trophy at the latest WTT Youth Contender event, finishing joint-third in the U19 boys’ singles category in Doha.
The young Iranian relinquished a two-game lead to suffer a 3-2 setback (8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 15-13, 11-9) against Lin Ching-Ting of Chinese Taipei in Thursday’s semifinals, adding the third-place prize to the under-17 title he had won at the Lusail Sports Arena on Tuesday.
Lin still had to settle for a runner-up finish following a 3-1 loss to South Korea’s Lee Seungsoo in the final, with Chinese Taipei player Hung Che-Yen taking the other third-place prize.
Given a first-round bye, Faraji began his campaign with a 3-2 win against India’s Punit Biswas and then defeated South Korean Ma Yeongmin by the same scoreline – a repeat of their under-17 semifinal clash earlier in Doha.
A straight-game victory (11-6, 11-9, 11-5) over Slovakia’s Samuel Arpas sent Faraji into the semifinals.
Iran’s Arshia Lorestani and Mohammad Habibi also competed in the under-19 event in Doha, but their campaigns ended in the round of 16.
Lorestani defeated Vietnam’s Li Ki Ho 3-2 but was undone in straight games by India’s Priyanuj Bhattacharyya, while Habibi overcame the host’s Yousif Abdulla in five games before suffering a 3-1 defeat against Hung.