Table Tennis: NTTF picks Aruna, Edem, others for African Cup, Olympics Qualifiers

The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has named Quadri Aruna, Offiong Edem, Olajide Omotayo, and Fatimo Bello as Nigeria’s flagbearers at the 2024 ITTF African Cup and Olympics Qualification tournament.
In a statement on Sunday, NTTF said the tournament would take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 12 to 18.
It said the selection was made in accordance with the tournament’s prospectus: ” Each country is expected to present two men and two women for the African Cup.”
“While Egypt as the defending champions in men and women will present three players each and Rwanda will present four men and four women as the host country,” it stated.
In a list of participants released by the continental table tennis ruling body, the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Omar Assar of Egypt, the men’s singles defending champion, will be joined by his compatriot Hana Goda, who will also be defending her title in the women’s singles.
Aruna, a finalist at the 2022 edition held in Lagos, Nigeria, suffered an injury in the finals to forfeit the match to Assar after emerging from the brink of defeat to level up.
He led in the seventh game, but a thigh injury forced him to surrender the title to the Egyptian in front of the supporting Lagos fans.
Aruna, who had dropped to 19th place in the ITTF ranking, would use the tournament to move to the top of the world rating.
However, he will again face a Herculean task against the Egyptian trio of Assar, Mohamed El-Beiali, and Youssef Abdel-Aziz.
Omotayo, who had yet to show why he was crowned the 2019 African Games champion, would look forward to another showdown against some of the finest African stars in Kigali.
Similarly, Edem, who spearheaded Nigeria’s silver medal at the 13th African Games, would look forward to repeating her Accra’s superlative performance in Kigali.
Bello, a finalist at the 2022 edition, must have put her below-par performance in Ghana behind her in the hope of reenacting her 2022 form in Rwanda.
At the Olympics Qualification Tournament, Aruna hopes to make his fourth Olympic Games appearance when the event kicks off on May 16 at the BK Arena in Kigali.
Egypt will not compete as they have already picked their tickets for the 2023 African Championships in Tunisia.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette

Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

NationWide
Man arraigned for allegedly sending ex-lover’s sex video to husband
Mr Opaleye said Oluwatomisin conducted himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.

World
Australian police return stolen coin to Poland
Australian parties were unaware at the time it had been stolen.

Anti-Corruption
Alleged N201 million Fraud: Absence of EFCC witnesses stalls trial of company CEOs
Justice Kezziah Ogbonnaya adjourned the matter until March 17 for hearing.

Hot news Home top
Appeal Court affirms Olaoye as Soun of Ogbomoso, respondents head for Supreme Court
Mr Ogunjumi said that he was ready to file notice and grounds of the appeal to attack the judgment of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court.
![Map of the United States, [CREDIT: Geology.com]](https://gazettengr.com/wp-content/uploads/Map-of-the-United-States.jpg)
World
Flood death toll in U.S. south rises to 14
The death toll in the state rose from eight, including a seven-year-old child, on Sunday.

Lagos
Lagos LCDA chairman distributes 350 free UTME forms to indigent applicants
Mr Olatunde said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that financial constraints did not hinder deserving students from accessing higher education.