From Thursday 21st to Wednesday 27th July, Tunis will host the ITTF Africa Youth Championships, followed by a WTT Contender tournament from Monday 1st to Saturday 6th August.
In 2021, the Tunisia Table Tennis Federation held three World Table Tennis Youth Contender tournaments; this year in February and March they have staged two further such events; now there is more.
One of the most active member associations of the International Table Tennis Federation, for the WTT Contender event it is anticipated they will welcome players from Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea Republic, Luxemburg, Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and United States.
Now, three years after the most recent edition of the African Youth Championships, the break in the tournament traditionally staged on a global basis, being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; additional to the hosts, entries have been received from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo DRC, Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Togo.
Major events in their own right but to some extent they are test events; from Sunday 4th to Sunday 11th December, Tunis will be the home for the 2022 ITTF World Youth Championships
The man at the helm of proceedings is Lotfi Guerfel, the far seeing President of the Tunisia Table Tennis Federation.
At a recent press conference he stressed that the involvement of a large number of Tunisian players was the main motivation behind the organisation of the African Championships, adding that 74 boys and 44 girls from 13 member associations will compete.
In preparation the Tunisian players have recently completed an eight day training camp on Monday 18th July.
Follow all the action and results on the website of ITTF Africa.