by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-Africa Press Officer

Also in action will be compatriot Kurt Lingevelt; the 27 year clearly of the view that competing in the prestigious competition creates a major opportunity to both show and enhance his skills.

He explained:

“My aim is to play my best table tennis and to play my best in every match. I want to make it out of my group and play a quarter-final match; I want to win it and make it to the semi-finals and then play my heart out and leave everything on the table. I aim to play table tennis like I never played before, to give my all in every match and play for each point like my life depends on it.

I think South Africa can make it to the podium because table tennis is a game that has a lot of surprises. I believe we can make it into the medal zone.

Table tennis has improved tremendously in Africa because we have players winning ITTF organised tournaments outside the continent and are also in the top 20 in the world.

I think Quadri Aruna and Omar Assar will continue to dominate because they put in the long hours of training and also play in a lot of international tournaments apart from playing in the top leagues of the world.”