The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) on Wednesday announced a 10-member squad for the 2024 ITTF African championships scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 12 – 19, Afrosport reports.
Defending men singles champion, Quadri Aruna, leads the final team list released by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), which also include Olajide Omotayo, Ajoke Ojomu and Fatimo Bello.
The team also comprises of youngesters like Matthew Kuti, Muiz Adegoke, Abdulbasit Abdulfatai, Aishat Rabiu, Hope Udoaka and Aziza Sezuo.
Matthew Kuti, who made his senior debut at the 2023 African Games in Ghana and competed in the 2023 African Championships in Tunis is the reigning West African champion and will be making his second appearance at the continental event.
Adegoke and Abdulfatai will be making their debut at the African championships after leading the men’s team to victory at the 2024 West Africa Regional championships in Lome, Togo. Udoaka, West Africa women’s champion; Rabiu and Sezuo, products of NTTF’s grassroots efforts, will also make their first appearance at the African Championships.
NTTF vice president, Adesoji Tayo, explained that including junior players is part of the federation’s strategy to expose them to top-class competition early.
“We decided a few years ago to unearth new players, and we are happy that some of these players are coming through,” Tayo said. “They represented the country at the regional tournament in Togo and competed against top players from the region.
“This is another opportunity for them to gain experience at the African Championships. We are not expecting too much from them because they still need to gain more confidence. They have experienced players like Aruna, Omotayo, Bello, and Ojomu to learn from. We hope they can hold their own against some of the best players in Africa.”
Nigeria’s Aruna won the men’s singles title in the 2023 edition after beating Ahmed Saleh of Egypt 4-0 in the final in Tunis, Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Egyptian teenage sensation, Hana Goda, dethroned her compatriot Dina Meshref to claim the women’s singles title.
