Quadri Aruna, the 2022 Africa Cup runners-up, and Fatimo Bello have been listed among the top elite players that will lead the Nigerian contingent to this year’s edition at the Moi International Stadium in Nairobi from May 4-6, 2023.
Aruna, who has been very active in the WTT Series this year, will be hoping to claim the title after injury knocked him out of it in 2022 in Lagos.
The Nigerian, ranked 12th in the world and the highest ranked African in the competition, will head the seeding list ahead of defending champion Omar Assar of Egypt in the men’s singles.
In the women’s singles, Bello, a surprise runners-up in 2022, will be returning to the big stage again with the hope of repeating her feat against the star-studded list released by African Table Tennis Federation for the championships.
Bello, three-time West African champion, is at present defending her title at the 2023 West Africa Regional Championships in Accra, Ghana and will have to contest against champion Hana Goda of Egypt as well as former champion Dina Meshref, who has been in superb form in recently.
Joining Aruna and Bello on the Nigeria team is Taiwo Mati and Tosin Oribamise to compete in the men and women’s events respectively in Kenya.
(Upshotreports)