Quadri Aruna and Dina Meshref, Africa’s top seeds, have been dealt a difficult draw at this year’s World Table Tennis (WTT Contender) in Durban. The present WTT Series in South Africa acts as a warm-up for this year’s World Championships, which will be held in Durban in May.
Aruna, who is currently rated fourth in the WTT championship and 14th in the world, plays Chinese wonder Sun Wen in the men’s singles. The Nigerian is a familiar rival for the Chinese, having defeated some of their best players in the party.
Meshref, on the other hand, is also ranked fourth and number 28 in the world, and will face German-Chinese Yuan Wan in the opening round of the women’s singles.
The Egyptian will have to be at her best against the talented German, who is ranked 86th in the world and capable of upsetting the highly regarded African champion.
In the men’s WTT Contender category, this year’s competition features number one seed, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano (World’s seventh); number two seed, German Dang Qiu (World’s 10th); and number three seed, German Patrick Franziska (World’s 13th).
In the women’s division, German Nina Mittelham is ranked first (World 14th), German Xiaona Shan is second (World 24th), and China’s Fan Siqi is third (World 27th). The championship concludes on January 15, with the champion getting 400 ranking points.
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