by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-Africa Press Officer
Additional to Nigeria and the Ivory Coast; Benin, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Niger Republic, Sierra Leone and Guinea will compete.
Proceedings are under the guidance of Professor Germain Karou, President of the Ivory Coast Table Tennis Federation and the Tournament Director.
“We hope that this tournament will be a very successful one and that the Ivorian people and region will have opportunity to discover the best players from the region. We are expecting 11 countries out of the 15 countries in the region, while about 39 players will be in Abidjan for this tournament. Hosting the tournament means a lot to the national federation. It is another great opportunity that will help to stimulate the development f table tennis and win more people to the sport in our country. Hosting this competition is a great opportunity for the country to showcase its talents and raise the profile of the sport.” Germain Karou
Positive words, it was the same from Kanate Ali, the Deputy Secretary General of the Ivory Coast Table Tennis Federation.
“We thank International Table Tennis Federation, the African Federation and the President of the West African region for the confidence placed in us staging the tournament. We hope to use this tournament to show our ability in organising an international event particularly being the maiden edition of the regional tournament. By hosting the first edition of the regional table tennis championship, Côte d’Ivoire is on the map of West Africa as a leading player. The stakes involved in the organisation of this competition are numerous and that is why we have made every effort to make it a memorable one for the players.” Kanate Ali
Undoubtedly it is an opportunity for Ghana, once a most prominent force in the continent, to showcase their skills.
“Apart from putting up a good organisation, we want to show our ability as a top table tennis playing nation in the region and that is why we have sent our players for training in France in order to make it to the podium at the event.” Kanate Ali
Medals a major goal but for Wahid Oshodi, the President of the ITTF Africa (Western Region), the staging of the tournament has another target, one of unity.
“We are grateful to the International Table Tennis Federation and the African Table Tennis Federation for their support. We are hoping that we can use this tournament to bring the countries in the region together and forge ahead in growing the sport. We are expecting fireworks in Abidjan. I am confident that the host nation will put up a good show. I am hoping that more teams in the region will register and be part of the competition.” Wahid Oshodi