Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Portugal’s Jieni Shao are number one seeds in the men and women singles of the 2017 ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open, Lagos 2017.
In the seeding list released at the weekend by the International Table Tennis Federation, Quadri, who is ranked 29 in the world, tops the men’s list, while his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar, is number two seed.
Assar is rated 38 in the world.
Just as Portugal’s Jieni Shao tops the seeding list in the women’s singles, host nation-Olufunke Oshonaike is the only Nigerian that made the seeding list in the women’s singles event of the competition.
2009 mixed doubles world champion, Qatar’s Li Ping, is number three seed in the men’s singles, while defending champion, Finland’s Benedek Olah, is fourth on the seeding list.
Frenchman, Antoine Hachard, is fifth, while India’s talisman and 2016 Belgium Open champion, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is sixth on the seeding list.
The second Egyptian on the seeding list is former African champion, Ahmed Saleh, who will be making his debut at the Nigeria Open, and he is seeded seventh, while India’s southpaw, Sanil Shetty, is eighth.