by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-Africa Press Officer

Playing in his native country, the 28 year old believes that the Mauritius players are motivated to excel in front of the home fans.

He explained:

“First of all, we are very happy to have the African Championships in our country and we are really motivated for the competition. We are mentally and physically prepared for the big day.

There are many good teams coming like Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Congo Brazzaville; as captain of the Mauritius table tennis team our goal is to achieve a bronze medal. I also want to put up a good performance and improve my world ranking. It is great preparation for us for the 2019 Indian Ocean Games.

I admire my favourite player Quadri Aruna from Nigeria. The Nigerian team will be difficult to beat in the tournament.

Most importantly, I would like to thank the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee who helped us a lot in our preparation. We also thank the Mauritius Table Tennis Federation for engaging the services of our Director of Technical, Cédric Rouleau since 2017.

I am very happy to take part in my first African Senior Championship; I am well prepared for this competition and will do my best. Mauritius has a very good team and we have a good team spirit. Hopefully, we can expect a bronze medal in team event.”