African Teams Begin Battle At ITTF World Team Championship In Malaysia

The two best teams in Africa, Nigeria and Egypt, will on Sunday February 28 begin their campaigns at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Team Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Due to their world rating, Nigeria and Egypt will be aiming for promotion to the elite division as they will be playing in division two of the men and women event at the eight-day tournament holding at prestigious Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam in Kuala Lumpur.
Ninety-One Men’s Teams and 81 Women’s Teams across the globe will ignite the city of Kuala Lumpur as matches begin at the biggest table tennis tournament in the world.
Drawn in Group F, Nigeria’s first group match in the men’s event will be against Turkey while the team will also battle for the top place in the group against India, Vietnam, Switzerland and Slovakia.
The Egyptians led by their star, Omar Assar will be campaigning in Group G against Hungary, Slovenia, Mexico, Norway and Argentina. Egypt’s first group match is against Mexico.
Just like their men’s counterparts, Nigeria and Egypt will also be the only two African teams playing in the top division as they will be aiming for promotion to the Championship division this year.
Nigerian ladies will compete against India, Croatia, Portugal, Puerto Rico and Columbia in Group G, while Egypt will battle against Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia, Mexico and Lithuania in Group F.
Algeria, Congo Brazzaville will be competing in division three of the men’s event while Congo Brazzaville, Algeria and Ethiopia will also be in same division of the women cadre.
Other African teams like South Africa, Mauritius, Togo and Tunisia will be playing in division four.
For the championship division, European champions, Austria faces a Herculean task as they have been drawn against world champion, China, Greece Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic and DPR Korea in Group A.