In the list released by the world table tennis ruling body, Team Nigeria will fly Africa’s flag in the event alongside world and Asia champion, China, as well as Germany, United States, Australia and host, Brazil
Browsing: ITTF
Toriola, a finalist at the 2013 edition of the competition, said he is optimistic that Nigerian players have the wherewithal to claim the laurel, but three-time winner, Egypt’s Omar Assar, has been “extra-ordinary lucky” to have claimed the titles ahead of the local players
Quadri is followed by Africa’s most decorated table tennis player, Segun Toriola, who is the first African athlete to be competing in seven Olympic Games
With the expiration of registration last week, this year will witness the presence of players from Portugal, Russia, Hungary, Egypt, Finland, Slovakia, Romania, Iran, Mexico, Ghana, Congo Brazzaville, Morocco, Tunisia, Congo DRC and Cameroon
Egypt and Nigeria will compete in the boys and girls events at the global tournament, while the girls’ team from Algeria and the boys’ team from Tunisia will join the two continental superpowers at the tournament holding in November this year
In the last three editions, the ITTF Nigerian Open has become the star tournament of the Lagos International Classics with players across the globe gracing the tournament, while it has also attracted more players to Lagos since its inception in 2013
Also the host, Algeria, which has over 20 players, failed to finish in top three despite winning two silver and five bronze medals.
They were beaten to the third spot by Tunisia, which had three silver and five bronze medals with a 16-man team
In the draw conducted on Tuesday, Nigeria have been drawn against Egypt in the boys and girls events, while the host, Algeria, will battle against Congo Brazzaville and South Africa in the second group
The third ranked African is Nigeria’s Segun Toriola on 109th position, with 2,022 points, which is a tie with India’s Harmeet Desai.
Quadri, reacting to the feat, told NAN that this was one of the upward movements in line with his aim of making the top 20 in the monthly ranking
The two-day tournament will produce eight players made up of four men and four women that will join others in the main ITTF World Tour, which holds from May 18 to 22 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium
The newsletter added that the location for the tournament has since been confirmed to now be in Halmstad in Sweden, from April 12 to 16.
It quoted ETTU President, Ronald Kramer, as saying: “It is with great reluctance that the ETTU Executive Board – in full cooperation with the ITTF – had to take this action
In the junior team event, Egypt claimed gold in the boys and girls divisions while they also ruled in the singles and doubles to be named the second overall best team
Omeh was edged out in the junior boys singles at the quarterfinal stage, but he inspired the team to settle for silver in the final of the team event after conceding defeat to Egypt, led by Youssef Abdel-Aziz
According to the prospectus of the qualifiers: “The tournament shall be used to select players to represent Nigeria in the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles at the World Tour Nigeria Open scheduled for May 18-22, 2016. Only the four highest ITTF ranked Nigerian players in the April 2016 world ranking in both events shall qualify automatically to represent Nigeria. All players not qualifying automatically but who wish to represent Nigeria are therefore advised to play in the qualifying tournament
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that prior to the ITTF World Team Championship in Malaysia, Nigeria was rated 32 behind Egypt, which placed 25
As it is, Egypt is ranked 27th while Nigeria occupies 29th place as the eight-day championship ends on Sunday March 6 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
In the group match, India suffered a 3-0 defeat against Nigeria and the win against Hungary has set up a rematch against the West Africa giant
To top Group F, Nigeria defeated Turkey, Switzerland, India, Slovakia and Vietnam, while Egypt overcame Mexico, Norway, Argentina, Slovenia and Hungary
The body, which is tasked to ensure a flawless hosting of the championship, has the Vice-President of the NTF, Yemi Owoseni, as chairman, while Bulus Hussein, Rotimi Akinloye and Seidu Musa are members
The duo joined the list of umpires that made it to the Olympics after the late Patience Ikeme-Iwuno who made it along with four other umpires that were selected from Africa for the London 2012 Olympic Games