BEIRUT (Dispatches) – A junior Lebanese table tennis player has withdrawn from the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Star Contender Vila Nova de Gaia 2022 tournament in Portugal to avoid facing a Zionist counterpart, in what has been seen as a new snub to the occupying regime following similar measures taken by a host of Muslim players from across the Muslim world.
According to the Palestinian news agency Quds News Network, 11-year-old athlete Bissan Chiri decided to pull out of the contests after she was told she was going to face Zionist player Elinor Davidov in a U15 Girls’ Singles match.
Chiri’s measure drew widespread praise on social media platforms.
Earlier this month, Lebanese tennis player Mohamed Ataya quit the Cyprus International Championship so as not to face an opponent from the Israeli-occupied territories.
The Gaza-based Anti-Normalization Campaign welcomed the decision, saying that the athlete’s withdrawal reflects the rejection of the great Lebanese nation, and all Arab people, to normalize with the occupying regime, and their fight against the crimes committed by the regime against defenseless Palestinian people.
It commended the player, saying he joined a long list of honorable heroes who refuse normalization in response to the call to boycott the Zionist regime.
Back in early September, Kuwaiti karate fighter Mohammad al-Otaibi withdrew from the 2022 Karate 1-Premier League contests in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to avoid facing a Zionist contestant over his support for the Palestinian cause and refusal of normalization with the regime.
Otaibi was set to participate in the male kumite 60-kilogram division of the international tournament. He, however, pulled out of the competitions as soon as he found out he was scheduled to take on Zionist competitor Ronen Gehtbarg.