*As Men’s singles serve off
With the official commencement of the Lagos International Table Tennis Classics, Egypt’s Omar Assar and Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing have been
rated the tournament’s top seeded players, as the senior’s singles events serve off at Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.
In the seeding released by the Main Organising Committee (MOC), Egypt’s Assar, who is rated 60 in the world has been drawn in group one alongside Nigeria’s trio of Jide Ogidiolu, Mayowa Babatunde and Charles Isah.
Italy’s Mihai Bobocica, who is seeded number two is in group two while Team Nigeria stars, Segun Toriola and Aruna Quadri are seeded number three and four respectively.
In the women’s seeding, current African Senior’s champion, Congo
Brazzaville’s Xing is rated number one, while Nigeria’s Funke Oshonaike
is number two.
In the men’s singles, over 64 players have been drawn into 16 groups made up four players per group with the top players in each group proceeding to the round of 16.
In the women’s event, the 32 players were drawn into eight groups with the top players in each group advancing to the quarter-final stage.
For Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu, it is only Toriola and Quadri that can stand between him and the title.
The Nigeria-born player said he was really impressed with the organization of the tournament, saying, “this is indeed a wake time for Nigeria table tennis.”
“I am here to claim the title and I know I have the ability to achieve this. I know that many people will be scared of Egypt’s Assar because of his ranking but I want to let you know that I had played against Assar at club level. So he is beatable in this competition. The players that I feel can prevent me from claiming the title are Toriola and Quadri because we have been playing together before I left for Brazzaville,” Idowu said.
For him, taking part in the competition is not about winning the cash prize but also improving on his world ranking. “I am here for the money and I am also here to garner point to improve my world ranking. I think the atmosphere is good for any player to give his or her best. But I want to sincerely commend the organizers for putting this tournament together and I look forward to more of this,” he added.
