By Daily Sports Nigeria on July 17, 2024

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Egypt’s Omar Assar have been seeded in 14th and 16th places respectively in the men’s singles event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, meaning they will start their campaign in the second round.

According to the International Table Tennis Federation, the seeding was based on the world rankings released on Tuesday which saw Aruna retain his 19th position in the world just as Assar is ranked 22nd.

World No. 1, China’s Wang Chuqin takes the top seed in the Men’s Singles event and he is followed by compatriot and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist, Fan Zhendong.

Also, the likes of Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo, Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali, Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa, Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw, and Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu are expected to know their first round opponents when the draws take place on July 24.

In the women’s singles seeding list, Egypt’s Dina Meshref missed the top 16 list by a whisker to concede the 16th place to WTT Contender Lagos champion, India’s Sreeja Akula.

With this development, Meshref who is seeded 17th, and her compatriot Hana Goda seeded 20th will begin their campaign from the second round of the women’s singles.

Nigeria’s pair of Offiong Edem and Fatimo Bello as well as Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou and Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi will also begin their quest for glory from the second round of the Women’s Singles.

Meanwhile, Aruna looks forward to the Indian Ultimate Table Tennis season with anxiety and hopes to do his best for U Mumba TT.

The 35-year-old world number 19 shared his excitement in a video uploaded by U Mumba on Tuesday, expressing his delight at representing the club and his expectations for the series.

”How everyone, Quadri Aruna is my name. I am very happy to be back with the best team in UTT U Mumba, and I am looking forward to the new season. I hope I will give my best and make the team proud. Mumba, we are united. See you all soon,” said Aruna, and U Mumba TT responded, “We are United. Aruna Quadri is excited for the reunion, and so are we.”

To sustain the growth, Ultimate Table Tennis franchises put their thinking caps on and found a way to pick the best possible squads for UTT 2024 at the Player Draft in Mumbai on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, ahead of the season, which is scheduled to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai from August 22 to September 7.

A total of 48 players, including 16 foreigners, will be in action as teams finalise their six-member squads after the Player Draft.

U Mumba TT went with the tried-and-tested formula by once again picking Aruna and Asian Games bronze medalist Sutirtha
Mukherjee.

Source Punch Ng

Posted July 17, 2024

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