TheCable

Nigeria and Egypt, table tennis powerhouses, and 14 other African countries will participate in this year’s International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world championships in Germany.

The qualification of the 16 African teams was based on their participation in the continental tournament held in Agadir, Morocco, last year.

Other African countries that will join Nigeria and Egypt are Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo and Tunisia.

Europe dominates the list of participants with 45 nations while world champions, China, will lead 37 Asian countries to the tournament.

Nigeria and Egypt will benefit from Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar’s ranking as both players are among the top 100 in the world.

Their rankings will provide both countries the opportunity to present four players each at the tournament.

The tournament will take place between May 29 to June 5. It will be organised by the Table Tennis Association of Germany (DTTB).

Players will compete in five individual events – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles – during the eight-day championships.