Quadri Aruna, Nigeria’s sole flagbearer at the ITTF World Cup, Macao 2024, has been drawn in Group 15 of the men’s singles, a statement by The African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) confirmed on Sunday.
He will slug it out against Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez.
Similarly, Egypt’s Omar Assar has also been handed a tough task of progressing from the group.
Forty-eight players have been drawn into 16 groups of three players in each group with the winner advancing to the second stage of the competition.
Aruna, a regular face at ITTF World Cups, remains the first and only African to have reached the quarterfinal stage of the $1 million prize money tournament.
He is expected to begin his campaign against Portugal’s Freitas on 15 April while his last group match will be the next day against Puerto Rico’s Gonzalez.
Egypt’s trio of Omar Assar, Ahmed Saleh, and Mohamed El-Beiali have been drawn into groups 16, 11, and 9 respectively.
Three Egyptians and a Cameroonian will represent Africa in the women’s singles. The Egyptians Yousra Helmy, Hana Goda, and Mariam Alhodaby will campaign in groups nine, 12, and 11, while Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou will compete in group 11 alongside Korea’s Joo Cheonhui and Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi.
