The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has confirmed Lagos as one of the hosts of its World Table Tennis (WTT) Contenders in 2023.
Also, as a dress rehearsal for the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, Johannesburg will stage the first WTT Contender in 2023 in January.
According to the ITTF calendar released recently, the Johannesburg event will be the first time a WTT Series event will be staged in South Africa, and will serve as a rehearsal for the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in May.
According to WTT, the decision to approve Lagos was based on the successful staging of several ITTF events in the past which has since earned Nigeria’s commercial centre as the hub of table tennis in Africa.
The June 23 event will be the first time the city will be staging a professional table tennis event of this format since the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open was last held in 2019.
According to ITTF Executive Vice President, Wahid Enitan Oshodi, the staging of WTT is long overdue as the organisers have in the past made overtures for the city to host the tournament.
“We are excited with the decision of the WTT management to consider Lagos as one of the hosts of WTT Contenders in 2023 and this is a confirmation of what the city has become in Africa in terms of organizing one of the most exciting tournaments in the world,” he said.
“We believe as a nation, we are capable of hosting the event and we hope our supporters and sponsors will come to our aid by ensuring that we continue to raise the standard for others to follow.”
In the man time, the WTT Contender will hold for the third consecutive time in Tunisia in February as the North Africans will also host the WTT Youth Star Contender Tunis and WTT Youth Contender in September while the WTT Youth Contender Cairo concludes the list of African cities on the 2023 events calendar of the WTT Youth Series.
