The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ITTF

  • ITTF upgrades Nigeria Open for 2019

    Impressed with its organisation coupled with its global status, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has upgraded the annual Nigeria Open in 2019 to Challenge Plus, which offers more prize money, world ranking points, better playing conditions and TV production.

    With new nine cities joining the Challenge Series, the Nigeria Open alongside North Korea, Oman, Portugal, Paraguay and Canada Opens. Nigeria Open was rewarded for its exceptionally strong Challenge Series events over the past few years and the tournament has been allocated a Challenge Plus status.

    The 17 events for 2019, includes nine cities that have never hosted a Challenge Series event and will be split into two tiers for the first time, with the top tier being called Challenge Plus which offers more prize money, more world ranking points, better playing conditions and TV production.

    The Challenge Series is the Tour below the premier ITTF World Tour, with its goal of providing players from around the world valuable playing opportunities to get the experience and world ranking points to take the next step to playing ITTF World Tour events.

    ITTF CEO Steve DAINTON stated: “The increased amount of ITTF Challenge Series events shows the increased interested in organizing table tennis events and the proven success of the change of our world ranking at the start of 2018. These 17 events added to our 13 ITTF World Tour events means that we have 30 tour events in 2019, which provides our players with immense value and fits in with the ITTF’s strategy of having a fully professionally run global tour by 2021.”

    Mexico is one of the new names in the second tier of events together with fellow newcomers Morocco, Turkey, Serbia and Indonesia. Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, Thailand, Poland and Belarus all successfully retain their status as Challenge Series hosts for 2019.

  • World Team Championships: ITTF lists Nigeria, Egypt

    World Team Championships: ITTF lists Nigeria, Egypt

     

    The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has confirmed the men teams of Nigeria and Egypt as well as five other African countries for the 2018 World Team Championships holding in Halmstad, Sweden.

    However, Nigeria’s women team absence at the 2016 African Champions in Morocco may have prevented the team from making the

    list of teams expected to compete at the global tournament come April 29 to May 6, 2018.

    It was the inability of Nigeria to compete in the team event that stopped the team from making the cut as it was only Olufunke Oshonaike that was able to sponsor herself to the tournament, which she claimed the women singles title at the expense of Egypt’s Dina Meshref.

    Nigeria and Egypt make the list of teams that qualified automatically for the tournament based on their world rating and performance at the 2016 edition in Malaysia but they are expected to campaign in the second division after both teams failed to make it to the Championship division in 2016.

    Unlike Nigeria and Egypt as well Togo, who qualified based on the outing in 2016, the likes of Algeria, Congo Brazzaville,

    Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia made the cut following their performance at the 2016 African Championship in Morocco.

    Egypt is the only female team that made the automatic cut for the championship while Algeria, Congo Brazzaville, South Africa, Morocco and Tunisia picked their slots in Sweden following their performance and presence at the 2016 African Championship in Morocco.

    China tops the list of teams expected in Sweden as they are the men and women defending champions but all eyes will be on Germany this year following the possible displacing of China’s Ma Long as world number one by Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the January 2018 ranking to be released this week.

     

  • ITTF to Implement New World Ranking System in 2018

    ITTF to Implement New World Ranking System in 2018

    The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) will be implementing its newly developed World Ranking system in 2018 to present a more accurate measure and realistic situation of the playing level, and to ensure that the World Ranking better supports ITTF events.

    The decision comes after the new system was approved at the Executive Committee (EC) meeting on 23 September 2017 in Halmstad, Sweden, and will become effective from 1 January 2018.

    The new World Ranking system, which is more simplified and comprehensive, is expected to create a more dynamic World Ranking based on athlete’s performance and results during the entire year, encouraging players to participate as inactivity affects each position.

    The ITTF believes that a high level of competition and sports presentation, assured by the constant participation of its top players at events, will maximize exposure and promotion through TV, social media and traditional media.

    Coupled with the more frequent shifts along the World Ranking, it will be in the benefit of sports development to count on a larger variety of nationalities and higher presence of players proceeding from all continents. This will in turn improve the popularity and global reach of the sport, leading to substantial increase in prize money for players and generate more interest of more countries to focus on professional development.

    Basic principles and the main changes compared to the current WR system

     

     

    culled from ITTF

  • Belgium Open: Omotayo heads Nigerian contingent

    Belgium Open: Omotayo heads Nigerian contingent

     

    Italy-based Olajide Omotayo will lead two other Nigerians to the 2017 ITTF Challenge Belgium Open which serves off Tuesday in Belgium.

    Former international, Kazeem Nosiru and Dotun Aiyelumo will also begin their campaigns in the group stage of the men’s singles of the tournament.

    Omotayo has been drawn in Group two alongside Chinese Taipei’s SUN Chia-Hung and Germany’s HOHMEIER Nils.

    Also, Nosiru will battle Austria’s CHEN Alexander and Iran’s WAHID Habibie in group 24 while Aiyelumo will slug it out with Russia’s IVONIN Denis and Netherlands’ OOSTWOUDER Ewout in group 37.

    The top player in each group is expected to advance to the knockout stage of the men’s singles. Other African teams on duty are Algeria and Egypt.

    In the men’s doubles, Omotayo will partner Romania’s CAZACU Alexandru, while Nosiru and Aiyelumo will team up as well from the preliminary round of the event.

    Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia is the top seed followed by Germany’s Ricardo Walther and Sharath Kamal Achanta, also from India. In 2010 Tiago Apolonia won in Austria, Sharath Kamal Achanta in Egypt; four years later Ricardo Walther succeeded in Croatia.

    Additionally, further down the list, Korea’s Kim Donghyun won in 2015 in Bulgaria; in 2012 Russia’s Vasily Lakeev succeeded in both Belarus and Egypt. In De Haan, Kim Donghyun is the no.8 seed, Vasily Lakeev, the no.15 seed.

    Recapturing form of bygone days is very much the task for Kim Donghyun and Vasily Lakeev; for three notable names who appear high in the order of merit it is a question of maintaining present form.

    Benedikt Duda, ever more competitive on the international scene in the no.4 seed in the Men’s Singles event; he is followed immediately by German compatriot Patrick Franziska and Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic. Both Patrick Franziska and Bojan Tokic were outstanding at the recent Liebherr 2017 European Team Championships as Germany secured gold and Slovenia an unprecedented bronze.

    Likewise prominent Men’s Singles names are also very much in evidence in the Men’s Doubles competition, an event in which Belgium has high hopes.

    The winner earlier this year on the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour in Qatar, he is the top seed; next in line is Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic, followed by Russia’s Sadi Ismailov; Ng Pak Nam, also from Hong Kong completes the top four names.

  • Stake high as 2017 ITTF World Cup serves off

    Stake high as 2017 ITTF World Cup serves off

    After months of fighting for qualification and weeks of preparation, the stage is now set for the 2017 ITTF World Cup which serves off today at the Country Hall in Liege, Belgium.

    From the world and Olympic Champion, China’s Ma Long and European champion, Germany’s Timo Boll as well as African supers stars – Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar, the race for the top spot begins this morning will all eyes of the prestigious trophy.

    Apart from aiming for the trophy, the 20 competitors will also be targeting their share from the $150,000 prize money as well as garnering ranking points.

    The 20 warlords drawn across the globe have all arrived the beautiful and quiet Belgium city of Liege in their intention toimpress on the world stage.

    Host continent – Europe will field seven contestants with Russia’s Alexander Shibaev, France’s Simon Gauzy, Ukraine’s Kou Lei and Germany’s Timo Boll qualifying alongside compatriot – Dimitrij Ovtcharov from the 2017 ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup tournament. Portugal’s Marcos Freitas has been handed a wildcard entry and Belgium’s Cedric Nuytinck qualifies as the host nation representative.

    China’s Lin Gaoyuan booked his spot in Liège following his title winning campaign at the 2017 ITTF-Asian Cup and is joined by South Korea’s Lee Sangsu, Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, Japan’s Jun Mizutani, South Korea’s Jeong Sangeun, Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan and Japan’s Koki Niwa who also qualified via the continental competition. Ma Long features as World champion.

    The rest of the player lineup includes two African representatives – Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Egypt’s Omar Assar, Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi and United States’Kanak Jha have qualified from Pan America and rounding off the list of entries is Australia’s David Powell who sealed his place at the World Cup with a successful campaign at the 2017 ITTF-Oceania Cup.

    For the next three days, the opening day will see the players seeded ninth to 20th being drawn into four equal groups of three players with contestants finishing in the top two positions in each group advancing from stage 1.

    The eight players to progress from the group stage will join the top eight seeded competitors in the Round of 16 on day two prior to four quarter-finals encounters. Day three sees the four remaining players fight it out in the semi-finals, before the tournament closes out with a third-place play-off and the final.

    Read Also: Aruna Quadri Employs German Coach for T/Tennis World Cup

  • We will reward hard working athletes, Commissioner assures

    We will reward hard working athletes, Commissioner assures

    The Ondo State Government said, on Thursday in Akure, that it would reward hard working athletes in the state, Mr Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, Commissioner for Youth Development and Sports the assured.

    He gave the assurance in Akure while receiving athletes that represented the state and excelled in various local and international competitions, such as Wrestling, Volleyball, Weight lifting, Table Tennis and Football among others.

    Yusuf-Ogunleye, who said arrangements had been concluded to give the athletes a state reception, called on them to enhance effort in winning more medals for the state.

    The commissioner, while appealing to all stakeholders to be patience with government, also promised that ” everyone” in the state would enjoy the dividends of democracy.

    “We are very happy with the performances recorded by our athletes in various sports. This has shown us that with more incentives, we can conquer the world.

    “The success recorded in Wrestling, Weightlifting, Football, Volleyball and Table Tennis did not come by accident but due to the available talents as well as encouragement from the state government.

    “It is on this note that I want to congratulate all the winners, “he said.

    The commissioner, however, noted that it was difficult for the state government to ensure much financial motivation for the sportsmen due to paucity of funds.

    Read: Ogun athletes determined to dominate National Youth Games – Commissioner

    He disclosed that there were workers in the Ondo State Football Agency who had not been paid their salaries for 12 months.

    Yusuf-Ogunleye, who said the present administration in the state was on a rescue mission, assured athletes of better days ahead.

    Earlier, the Director of Sport, State sports Council, Mr Martins Adeojo, said that the current present administration had achieved a lot in less than a year, especially in sports development.

    Adeojo, who presented the athletes to the commissioner, attributed the medals won for the country by indigenes of the state to the unflinching support received from Gov.Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

    He, however, called on the state government to do more in the area of financial encouragement and provision of facilities.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Odunayo Adekuoroye, Aminat Adeniyi, John Emmanuel, Bisola Makanjuola, and Samuel Bose won gold and silver medals in wrestling for Nigeria at the African Senior Championship in Morocco.

    Adekunoroye also won silver medal for Nigeria in wrestling in Women’s category at the World Wrestling Championship in Paris.

    In Weight lifting, Fatima Yakubu won three gold medals for Nigeria at the African Championship in Uganda.

    Matty Taiwo (17), won two gold and one bronze medal at the ITTF African Junior tournament in Egypt.

    The state also emerged 3rd on the overall medals table, out of 35 states at the 2017 National Youth Games in Ilorin with 12 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reports that three players from the state are currently at the National Volleyball Camp in Abuja ahead of the African Championship in Egypt.

    The commissioner congratulated the Super Eagles for qualifying for next year’s World cup in Russia.

    Highpoint at the occasion was the receipt of the Fair Play Trophy won by Sunshine Stars of Akure at the just concluded 2017 AITEO Federations Cup, by the commissioner.

    Read Also: 2017 World Rowing Championships: 6 athletes to represent Nigeria

  • Quadri begins campaign at Polish Open

    Quadri begins campaign at Polish Open

    As the number one seed at the 2017 ITTF Challenge tagged Polish Open, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri will today begin hostility in the main draw of the men’s singles in his quest to claim his first global title.

    Also, Egypt’s Omar Assar has set a new African record as the best ranked player in the continent after the 2015 African Games champion climbed to 21 in the October ITTF rankign released yesterday by the world table tennis ruling body.

    With the conclusion of the preliminary round of the men and women singles at the Polish Open, the 32 seeded players will have their taste of action in the quest to share from the largesse of the tournament.

    Quadri who led Sporting to retain the Portuguese Super up at the weekend and was also part of the Sporting team that claimed their first major victory at the 2017 European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League will be aiming for the title that has contineud to elude his having made it to the final of the Nigeria Open in 2015 where he eventually lost to Assar 4-2.

    However, Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo was unlcuky in his quest to make it to the main draw as he lost his two matches in the group.

    Omotayo narrowly lost 4-3 to Lithunia’s Medardas Stankevicius while he fell 4-2 to Brazil’s Cazuo Matsumoto in group four of the preliminary round of the men’s singles.

    In the ITTF ranking released yesterday, Assar climed from 31 to 21 following his exploits at the 2017 Austrian Open where he edged out some of the world’s best in the tournament. Having started his campaign from the preliminary round, Assar caused major upset to berth in the quarterfinal where he lost to his superior Chinese star.

    But his performance earned his ranking points as the amassed 91 points to achieve the best rating by an African in the hisory of table tennis.

    This development has confirmed that Assar is the best ranked African player in the world and he has displaced Aruna Quadri who dropped from 33 to 36 in the world. Aruna Quadri’s inactiveness in September may have contribued to his slide.

  • Aruna Quadri dazzles with wife at The Nation

    Aruna Quadri dazzles with wife at The Nation

    It was a show of class and acknowledgement of professional skills as Africa’s best table tennis player – Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri displayed his worth in the ping-pong game as he visited the Lagos office of The Nation. 

    Despite his tight schedule and busy preparation for tournaments, the humble and easy going athlete made the visit in the company of his agile and ever young looking mother, Madam Shakirat Atinuke Quadri and his delectable wife Ganiyat Aruna.

    His wife, Mrs Aruna who was also a National Team start player in the same game was not in anyway short of expectation as both husband and wife displayed unparalleled skills during their exhibition game to the admiration of staff at the game centre.

    Picture Caption: Aruna Quadri(middle) in a group picture with workers at The Nation.

    Aruna’s visit came at a time The Nation is preparing for the 2017 Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) Games reported to begin next month(July). Prospective athletes that will represent the media house in the game could not miss the opportunity to play with the international player to beef up their preparations for the annual game. Aruna played not-less than 10 opponents and he won all.

    Recall that Quadri competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals in the latter competition.

    Latest reports also have it that the 2014 ITTF Star Player is among the 24 foreign players listed for the maiden Ultimate Table Tennis League holding in Chennai, India.

  • 2017 ITTF World Championships: Japan sure of medal in singles

    2017 ITTF World Championships: Japan sure of medal in singles

     

    With China dominating the singles event, Japan is assured of its first medal since 1969 after Asian champions, Miu Hirano breezed into the semifinal of the women’s singles at the 2017 ITTF World Championships holding in Dusseldorf, Germany.

    The last time a Japanese claimed medal at the world championship in the women’s singles was in 1969 when Toshiko Kowada won gold medals in Munich, Germany.

    Playing against an experienced Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, Miu Hirano who edged out Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike in the first round was in superb form with a convincing 4-1 over her highly-rated opponent.

    An elated Hirano confirmed  after the victory that she was so excited breaking the jinx of Japan not making it to the medal zone in the competition in more over four decades.

    “I am so so happy to win. I did not know that it has been so long that Japan has won a medal, I am a bit surprised. I am happy to have this record, and that this will be in the history books,” she said.

    She described the Asian Championship triumph as a boost to her confidence against any player. “After my win, I have more self-confidence. I don’t have any fear before a match. I always enter a match to win. I want to win the title here in Dusseldorf.”

    Meanwhile, Hirano will face the biggest threat to her title ambition in Germany when she battle World and Olympic champion, China’s Ning Ding in the semifinal round.

    Also in the men’s doubles, Japan’s Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima have finally found a place on the podium together at a World Championships, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An and Cheng-Ting Liao 4-1.

    In Suzhou 2015, they lost in the quarter-final to Xu Xin and Zhang Jike 4-3. The pair went down in the final game 12-10, after having multiple match points. Victory here in Düsseldorf means they are finally in to the semi-final stage. It has been a medal two years in the making.

  • IOC to confirm Oribamise, others for 2018 Youth Olympic Games

    IOC to confirm Oribamise, others for 2018 Youth Olympic Games

    Less than 24 hours after Nigeria’s Tosin Esther Oribamise and three others qualified for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will this week confirmed the Nigerian star alongside others for the multi-sports tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    According to ITTF Competition Manager, Mounir Bessah, the list of the African qualifiers would be forwarded to IOC today and the Olympic body is expected to confirm their qualifications from the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the players.

    “I will send Oribamise and three others names to IOC Wednesday and hoping that IOC will then need to confirm their qualification based on the results recorded at the qualifiers in Tunis from their various NOC. It is after this that they will be registered formally by the world body. But I will need to send it to IOC first which they will confirm to me before the end of this week,” Bessah said.

    Oribamise is the second Nigerian player to be featuring in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) after Ojo Onaolapo took part in the maiden edition of YOG in Singapore, where he made it to the quarterfinal stage of the boys’ singles and now the Ondo State-born star is now integral part of the senior national team.

    However, President of ITTF Africa, Khaled El-Salhy, said the four players were indeed the best from the continent considering the qualities they displayed at the qualifiers.

    “I am satisfied with the qualities of play from all the players that took part in the qualifiers and those that emerged were indeed the best from the qualifiers. I just need to appeal to national associations to ensure that these four players prepare very well for the games because I could recall at the maiden edition of the game in Singapore, Africa represented by Tunisia’s Adam Hmem partnered with a Chinese player to win bronze in the mixed doubles event and it will be good if Africa can also do well next year in Argentina,” El-Salhy said.

    He however, said there are possibilities that Africa applied for wildcards which he said can only be awarded to countries with less number of participants in the games. “We hope to apply for wildcards because at the 2014 edition in China, we had four wildcards for Togo, Congo Brazzaville and others making African having eight players competing. But we hope we can apply again but this will only be given to countries with less number of participants in the games and not to top countries,” the ITTF Africa boss added.