Players, ITTF Officials Arrive For Lagos World Tour

Players from the 14 countries including host – Nigeria and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) officials will start arriving Lagos on Friday June 20, for the Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open.

According to the itinerary of the teams, Singapore’s Jing Yuan Yin will be the first player expected to touch down in Lagos for the four-day tournament.

Others expected are Luxembourg’s Ni Xialian as well as Russia’s duo of Vasilij Filatov and Irina Ermakova.

The eight-man Egyptian team will arrive on Saturday June 21, while others will arrive Lagos on Sunday.

Also, ITTF officials led by African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy as well as his deputy, Henri Djombo from Congo Brazzaville will be in Lagos by Sunday.
 
ITTF Marketing Director, Australia’s Mr. Steve Daintom will also be in Lagos.

The draw for the championship will hold on Sunday, while some top players will be seeded for the competition.

Meanwhile, winners in the men and women singles event will get N.8m each while players that make it to the round of 16 will get cash reward for their efforts.

Semi finalists in the U-21 event will also be rewarded for their  efforts.
 
As a Challenge Series in the ITTF World Tour, players are expected to amass point for their world ranking at the tournament.

Preliminary matches will kick off on Monday June 23, while the main draw will commence on Tuesday June 24.

Nigerian players aiming to be part of the main draw event are now sweating it out across the country with the intention of playing in the elite stage of the championship.

Some of the Nigerian players already in the country for the tournament are Germany-based Funke Oshonaike, Portugal-based Ganiat Olatunde-Aruna, as well as Italy-based Olajide Omotayo.

Over 15 countries including Nigeria will compete in the N8.5m prize money tournament holding at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium from June 23 to 26.