Paris 2024 Olympics: Aruna Grabs Ticket In Table Tennis
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Friday officially confirmed that Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi have qualified for the singles event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games taking place in France from July 26 to August 11.
A statement issued on Friday by the ITTF with representation from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe stated thus; “As the countdown to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games intensifies, ITTF is thrilled to announce significant progress in the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”
This week’s world ranking update, coming less than 50 days before the games, saw eight athletes secure their participation based on the selection of continental quotas allocated by World Ranking.
The statement stated that the Men’s Singles draw welcomes African powerhouse, Quadri Aruna from Nigeria, alongside the Americas’ rising talent Nicolas Burgos from Chile, even as the list also included Asia’s Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan and Europe’s Alvaro Robles of Spain, who previously qualified in Mixed Doubles.
Additionally, the Tennis Federation also said the Women’s Singles competition would showcase a similar level of global talent with the qualification of Lynda Loghraibi from Algeria (Africa), Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico (Americas), and Singapore’s Zhou Jingyi (Asia).
Also, Yang Xiaoxin of Monaco (Europe) can now officially begin their preparations for their Olympic dreams in Paris.
According to the ITTF statement, the qualification process would reach its penultimate stage with only one more world ranking update scheduled before the final roster for Paris is confirmed, adding; “Next week’s world rankings will be crucial in determining the final competitors for the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Games, 86 men and 86 women are expected to compete in the singles events of the Olympic Games”
In a related development, the ITTF has listed three Africans, among the umpires for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They are Es-Sayed Elrawdy of Egypt, Ronald Mugwanya of Uganda, and Akram Ben Attia of Tunisia.
