Aruna Quadri of Nigeria and Dina Meshref of Egypt have been seeded as top seeds as the singles event of the 2018 ITTF African Championships serves off today Friday, September 7, in Mauritius.

Action will return to the Beau Bassin Sports Complex after a one-day rest following the conclusion of the team event on Wednesday with Nigeria and Egypt picking the slots for Africa to the 2019 ITTF World Team Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

In the absence of the defending champion – Egypt’s Omar Assar, Aruna Quadri was named the number seed and he will start his campaign from the second round (round of 32) after getting a bye from the first round.

Also as the second seed in the men’s singles, Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh also got a bye to the second round and the third seed is Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali who had a bye to the second round as well.

Aside Meshref who got a bye to the second round, Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike seeded number two also had a bye to the second round.

Also the men and women doubles event will precede the kick-off of the singles event while the semifinal of the mixed doubles will hold as well on same day.

It promises to be a busy day for all the teams as battle for the top spots in the remaining five events (doubles (men and women), singles (men and women) and mixed doubles continues at the championships.

Apart from playing for pride, the players will be aiming to share from the $25,000 prize money set aside for the last four players in the remaining five events. –     Sport Village Square

– Sept. 7, 2018 @ 14:47 GMT