As the 2021 ITTF African Championships begin tomorrow (September 1) in Cameroon’s capital city of Yaounde, Nigeria will today know their group foes in the men and women teams event of the seven-day tournament.
At the Hotel Mont Febe in Yaounde, the draws for the team event will be conducted today by the Competition Manager as the 21 African teams begin their quest for glory.
Expectedly, the rivalry between Nigeria and Egypt will be renewed as the battles for places in the 2022 World Championships in China gets underway in Yaounde.
Nigeria as the men’s defending champions will be aiming to repeat their 2018 feat Mauritius where the trio of Quadri Aruna, Segun Toriola and Bode Abiodun defeated Egypt’s trio of Ahmed Saleh, Khaled Assar and Mohammed El-Beiali 3-2 to dethrone the north African while the Egyptians continue to dominate the women event at the expense of Nigeria.
This time, Aruna and Offiong Edem will spearhead Team Nigeria in the events while Omar Assar and Dina Meshref will lead Egyptian sides to the tournament.
Read Also: ITTF celebrates Aruna’s humanitarian gesture
From September 1 to 3, the battle for the top teams will be held with winners emerging on Friday while the top four teams in the men and women events secured the continental spots at the World Championships in China come 2022.
President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy, said entries have been received from more than 27 member associations despite initial postponement due to Covid-19.
“ATTF is so keen to make our #RESTART# for table tennis in Africa, and I am sure all officials, players, and coaches are so eager to attend the event. I remember the highest turnout of teams for a major tournament in Africa was in 2001 in Minia, Egypt with 22 countries at an African Cup.
“ My impression with the turnout here is that everybody is quite eager for physical table tennis events, and they are so keen to join us in Yaoundé.
“The long-time suspension due to Covid-19, the players are aiming to compete in Africa in order to gain good ranking points, the event is not only the African Championships, but it is the qualifying tournament for 2022 World Championships in China as well,” El-Salhy added.
Leave a Reply