by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

It will be the 14th time the tournament has been staged, the first edition being in 1991 when only a Men’s Singles event was held and Nigeria’s Sule Olalaye emerged as the champion.

Notably, it will be the third time that Morocco has played host but the first occasion for Agadir; Rabat was the home in 2009 and 2011. In 2009 Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna won the Men’s event, the counterpart Women’s title was secured by Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing; two years later both titles went to Egypt. Ahmed Ali Saleh and Dina Meshref emerged as the respective winners.

Meanwhile, since 2013, the tournament has been staged on a biennial basis, alternating with the ITTF Africa Top 16 tournament, the reigning champions being Quadri Aruna and Dina Meshref.

In Agadir, two players per association may enter each of the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events with the exception that the host association, Morocco, may enter four players per event. The holders of the respective titles, Quadri Aruna and Dina Meshref are automatically eligible, thus giving Egypt an effective three places.

One group on an all-play-all basis will be the format should an event comprise only five players; otherwise matters will be conducted in two sections, a group stage followed by progressive knock-out to determine the final places.

Seeding will be as per the African Ranking list for June 2017; final entries must be confirmed by Tuesday 20th June.

Contact:

Mohamed Dawlatly, ITTF Competition Manager      Email: [email protected]

Mokhtar Toukabry, ATTF Technical Committee Chair       Email: [email protected]