Being the final opportunity for African players to be part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) has released the list of players that will compete in the singles and mixed doubles qualification event scheduled for February 27 to 29 in Tunisia.
Eight players made up of four men and four women in singles including one mixed doubles pair will qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tunisia.
Already, Egypt as African champions in men and women team event has picked the African sole slot in team event while two men and two women from the Egyptian team will feature in the singles event of Tokyo 2020.
Nigeria’s duo of Segun Toriola and Olufunke Oshonaike will be eyeing history as Toriola will be aiming for eighth Olympics appearance as the first African athlete while Oshonaike will be targeting seventh outing as the first African female player.
Each national association is expected to present two players each in the singles event of men and women and one team in the mixed doubles event
Topping the list of the field of men’s singles heading to Tunis is Africa’s number one ranked player, Aruna Quadri of Nigeria as well as his compatriot – Olajide Omotayo. Others listed for the men’s singles event are Gedeon Kassa and Diawaku Diamuangana (Congo DRC), Habeb Alajaebi and Salh Abodib (Libya), Ibrahima Diaw and Hamidou Sow (Senegal), Derek Abrefa and Emmanuel Commey (Ghana), Ahmed Djamal (Djibouti), Kizito Oba Oba and Kanate Ali (Cote d’Ivoire), Dodji Kokou Fanny and Mawussi Agbetoglo (Togo), Saheed Idowu and Christ Bienatiki (Congo Brazzaville), Adam Hmam and Kerem Ben Yahia (Tunisia), Sami Kherouf and Larbi Bouriah (Algeria), Brian Mutua and Josiah Wandera (Kenya), Godfrey Sultan (Seychelles), Monday Olabiyi (Benin Republic), Jonathan Nativel and Stephen Ravonison (Madagascar).
The women has Flavia Kimbu and Cyntia Nzangani (Congo DRC), Sarah Hanffou (Cameroun), Offiong Edem and Olufunke Oshonaike (Nigeria), Rahma Houssein (Djibouti), Nandeshwaree Jalim (Mauritius), Marta Gulti (Ethiopia), Abir Salah Haj and Fadwa Garci (Tunisia), Lynda Loghraibi and Katia Kessaci (Algeria), Doreen Juma and Lydia Setey (Kenya) and Christy Bristol (Seychelles).
African champions Omar Assar and Dina Meshref of Egypt tops the list in the mixed doubles event. Others are Gedeon Kassa and Cyntia Nzangani (Congo DRC), Segun Toriola and Olufunke Oshonaike (Nigeria), Ahmed Djamal and Rahma Houssein (Djibouti), Fadwa Garci and Mamia Thameur (Tunisia), Sami Kherouf and Lynda Loghraibi (Algeria) Godfrey Sultan and Christy Bristol (Seychelles).
According to the prospectus, the singles event (men and women) shall played in a round robin system with the players expected to be drawn into groups of four based on the decision of the jury.
From the first stage, the winners and runners-up of all groups will be drawn in the second stage to play another round robin system to decide the top four positions that will qualify for the Olympic Games.
The mixed doubles event shall be played in a simple knockout from the beginning to the final and the winning pair will be directly qualify to Tokyo 2020 as Africa’s representative in the Japan.
The allotment of the players in groups will also be based on the latest African ranking list for February 2020 in singles and mixed doubles, while all matches in all stages for all events to be best of seven games.
