by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF Africa, Media Officer
In the seeding list released by ITTF Africa, Egypt’s duo of Youssef Abdel-Aziz and Marwa Alhodaby are top seeds in the boys and girls events respectively.
In the draw conducted on Saturday 15th April by the tournament referee, Tunisia’s Bechir Metoui, the boys have been drawn into three groups of four players with the top players in Group One and Group Two receiving a bye to the semi-final stage, while the top player in Group Three and the second placed players across the groups will be drawn for knockout matches to decide the players that will battle against the top two players in the semi-final round.
After missing out on the 2017 ITTF African Junior and Cadet Championships, Nigeria’s Azeez Solanke and Tosin Esther Oribamise are the only new faces in Tunis and they are both seeded second in the boys and girls events of the qualifiers.
All the round robin matches will be played on Sunday 16th April while the semi-finals matches are held on Monday 17th April with the finalists in the boys and girls events qualifying automatically for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
Tunisia’s queen of the table, Fadwa Garci will represent the host nation alongside southpaw, Nathael Hamdoun.
Algeria’s teenage sensations – Abdelbasset Chaichi and Loubna Djedjik will represent their country.
Also other new faces in the qualifying tournament are Ethiopia’s duo of Kalab Bereba and Tamiru Feven Kinfu who also missed out on the 2017 ITTF African Junior and Cadet Championships.
