Nigeria’s team in men’s table tennis at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, led by world No.12 Quadri Aruna, will be the centre of attention in the event, which starts today.
Listed as the No.2 seed in the men’s team event for the Games, Aruna and the trio of Bode Abiodun, Olajide Omotayo and debutant Amadi Omeh have all the quality to conquer any team in Birmingham.
However, they will have tough opposition in home boys England, who are the top seed, and star-studded India who have the legendary Sharath Kamal Achanta, the 2004 Melbourne champion, as well as Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.
The Nigerian team has been handed a relatively easy draw against Ghana, South Africa and Cyprus in the first round.
If Aruna and his teammates progress to the semi-finals as expected, they should be in the last four with England, India and Singapore.
The youthful Singapore team will not be pushovers, even with the retirement of some of their top players.
The Nigerian women’s team will be aiming to progress from the group stage after being drawn with Singapore and England as well as little-known St Vincent and The Grenadines in the first round.
Considered as outsiders among the top four teams in the women’s event, it will take some effort from the players to beat Singapore and England to the top spot in the group.
On August 1 and 2, the medallists will emerge in the team event.
In the singles event, Aruna is the top seed and he will face stern tests from England’s Liam Pitchford, India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, as both players have been active in the last two months on the WTT Tour.
