by Simon Daish
Looking for his second Men’s Singles title in Lagos, having won the title in 2016, but third seed Benedek Olah has been handed a tricky fixture in the Round of 16 with experienced Nigerian competitor Segun Toriola standing in the Finn’s way – can the home crowd lift Toriola through to the quarter-finals or will Olah’s quest for silverware continue?
Second seed Alexey Liventsov is also expected to be pushed hard in his last 16 encounter as the Russian meets face-to-face with no.16 seed Antoine Hachard. There’s also an exciting all-Nigerian contest on the programme for the penultimate day in Lagos as top seed Quadri Aruna takes on Makanjuola Kazeem.
Ilka Doval came nervously close to an opening round exit on day one of the Women’s Singles tournament, requiring a huge comeback effort to beat the host nation’s Abosede Odusanya. In the Round of 16 the ninth seed is set for an even greater challenge with Suthasini Sawettabut, seeded first, awaiting the Norwegian.
Responsible for the elimination of no.13 seed Olga Kulikova in the last 32, Chinese qualifier Guo Yan will be looking to upstage another seeded competitor when she does battle with fourth seed Sarah De Nutte on day two and keep an eye on Wei Wensheng, who will attempt to defeat seeded opposition for the second match in a row when she meets Alex Galic.
Saturday’s action will also see the two doubles competitions get underway while the finale to the Under 21 events will also take place.
