Mauritius ready as Nigeria, 21 others set for World Cup tickets’ war

The stage is set for the biggest battles in African table tennis. 22 teams, including giants, Nigeria and Egypt, have been confirmed for the International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) African Championships, which will hold in Mauritius from September 3 to 9.

Aside being an avenue to determine the best teams, men and women, in the continent, the championship will also serve as the qualifier for the 2019 ITTF World Team Cup.

On Monday, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) President, Khaled El-Salhy, revealed that two teams (men and women) will represent the continent at the World Team Cup slated for November 2019.

He said, “The Mauritius championship will also serve as the qualification for the next World Team Cup to be held in November 2019 in Tokyo, which is a test event for Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 in Japan.”

Apart from Nigeria, Egypt and the hosts, the other countries expected in Mauritius are Algeria, Gabon, Angola, Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroun, Somalia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Madagascar, Togo, Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Djibouti, Comoros, Libya, Eritrea and Congo DRC.

“Yes I am so happy in following up the expected good number of entries in-spite of the received information from National Associations, hoping that all could do it and come with us to Mauritius soon,” the ATTF boss said.

Khaled El-Salhy said the Mauritius championship has provided the opportunity for ATTF to reconsider its new strategic plan for the next few years. “This time we have a special ITTF/ATTF Forum “Table Tennis For All For Life” holding from September 3 to 4 in which we are planning to conduct our new continental Strategic Plan for the coming years of 2018 to 2024.

“ATTF is looking to conduct a special Strategic Plan satisfying the needs of all African Associations with a great concentration for the activities through Regions in the future in which more small nations could come with less cost.

“As per experience we have very successful events in Mauritius (i.e. African Seniors Championship in 1998 & 2004 plus African Juniors & Cadet Championship in 2015) with a very fantastic performance from Mauritius Table Tennis Association (MTTA), thus I am expecting to have a very special event as one of the top professional organization in Africa.”