Table tennis will kickstart the 13th African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana, from March 8 to 23, according to a statement by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) made known on Sunday.
As one of the featured sports to highlight talents and skills, 29 countries will compete for honors across seven events during the games. All attention will be on Africa’s highest-ranked player, Quadri Aruna of Nigeria, as he aims to secure the African Games men’s singles title, a notable addition to his medal collection.
The ITTF statement also disclosed that the table tennis event will take place over seven days at the Accra International Conference Centre. The men’s singles tournament will inaugurate the competition with 84 male participants, while 62 female players will vie for the coveted prize in their category.
As per the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), the 18 men’s teams will be distributed into six groups of three each, while the 12 women’s teams will be divided into four groups. The top teams from each group will progress to the knockout stage of the competition.
The statement highlighted Egypt’s recent dominance in the past two editions of the games, where they secured the majority of the gold medals across various events, surpassing Nigeria, a traditional powerhouse in African sports.
Attention will be focused on defending champion Olajide Omotayo in the men’s singles category, as he seeks to replicate his past success at Rabat 2019. However, Omotayo has not been able to match his previous form in recent continental competitions. His most notable achievement to date was a third-place finish at the 2023 African Championships.
Women’s singles defending champion Dina Meshref will also be aiming to retain her title.
She, however, needs to fend off her compatriot, Hana Goda, who has dominated the continent in the last four championships, claiming the African Cup and championships.
For the President of ATTF, Khaled El-Salhy, the turnout of teams for the games had been impressive, being the largest number in any African Games.
”We are excited with the presence of teams across the continent, and we hope this will again showcase talents and skills by some upcoming players, including youngster Matthew Kuti, who has been included in the Nigerian squad for the games,” he said.