ITTF African Championship: Aruna Quadri, Funke Osonaike Favourites for Titles

By Editor The 2018 ITTF Africa Senior Table Tennis Championships begin on Monday in Mauritius. The competition, which ends on September 9, will serve as qualifiers for the 2019 ITTF Team World Cup in Tokyo. Nigeria will be represented by Segun Toriola, Olajide Omotayo, Bode Abiodun and Aruna Quadri in the men’s category while the women players are Edem Offiong, Funke Oshonaike, Esther Oribamise and Cecilia Akpan. Egypt and Nigeria are expected to dominate the competition, with Quadri and Oshonaike favourites for titles. Over 250 players are expected to battle for titles in the men and women’s singles, men and women’s doubles as well as the men and women’s team events and the mixed doubles. Other countries at the annual tournament are Mauritius, Algeria, Gabon, Angola, Burkina Faso, Congo, Cameroun, Somalia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Madagascar, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Djibouti, Comoros, Libya, Eritrea and DR Congo. Oshonaike told our correspondent that the competition would mainly be between Nigeria and Egypt, adding that she was ready to retain her singles title. “After the Nigeria Open in Lagos, we are in good form for this competition because it is obvious that it will be a fight between Nigeria and Egypt. We have not attended the World Team Cup in recent times; we would like to make it there this time round,” she said.