Monica Iheakam
Nigeria will lead 10 other African countries to the maiden edition of the International Table Tennis Federation(ITTF) Western Africa challenge .
The tournament which serves as a qualification for the 2020 Africa Top 16 Cup is billed for November 2 to 3 in Cote d’Ivoire.
A total of 21 men and 18 women will be competing for honours when the tournament pings off at the 3500 capacity Salle Polyvalente Du Parc Des Sports De Treichvillein Abidjan.
For the President of the ITTF Africa (Western Region) Wahid Oshodi, the staging of the tournament would help to build close relationship among the participating teams.
“We are grateful to ITTF and ATTF for their support and we are hoping that we can use this tournament to bring the countries in the region together and forge ahead in growing the sport. We are expecting firework in Abidjan and I am confident that the host nation will put up a good show. I am hoping that more teams in the region will register and be part of the competition,” Oshodi said.
Besides Nigeria, other teams aiming for the top prize are Benin Republic, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Niger Republic, Sierra Leone, Guinea and host – Cote d’Ivoire.
From the 15 countries that made up the region, 11 will be present at the two-day tournament sponsored by the world table tennis ruling body – ITTF.