The second edition of the ITTF Africa Western Region Championship serves off at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Monday.
Hosts Nigeria will slug it out with Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic, Togo, and Liberia at the four-day championship with teams competing for honours in seven events.
Already, the stage is set with junior sensation Samuel Boboye and Azeez Solanke spearheading the Nigeria team for the championship, while national champion Fatimo Bello leads the women’s team at the tournament.
Men’s singles champion, Oba Oba Kizito, flew in from Paris in his bid to defend his title, while Bello will also be wading off contests from Ghanaians and others in her quest to hold on to her women’s singles title.
Secretary-General, ITTF Africa Western Region, Germain Karou, said all was set for the championship.
“We are happy that our region is getting back to action after the Covid-19 pandemic, which prevented the staging of the tournament in 2020. But as usual, Lagos being the host, a table tennis lovers will be treated to exciting matches from teams and players from the region.
It promises to be explosive as some of the players are ready to clinch the titles in the absence of the top players like Quadri Aruna in the region,” Karou, who is also the President, Ivory Coast Table Tennis Federation, said.
Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Aiyepeku, said Lagos was ready to host the tournament in compliance with Covid-19 protocols.
“We will do everything to show our visitors ‘This is Lagos’ by ensuring you enjoy your stay in Lagos and partake in an exciting hitch-free tournament. More importantly, creating a veritable platform for our players in Africa to demonstrate and improve their skills will go a long way to continue identifying, promoting and preparing them ahead for future competitions beyond the continent,” Aiyepeku said.