African stars storm Kigali for Paris tickets

Offiong Edem of Nigeria

The biggest indoor arena in East Africa, BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda’s largest city, will host players from 15 countries on the continent for the African Olympic Qualification Tournament, taking place from May 16 to 18, as the deadline for Paris Olympic Games tickets gets closer.

Six players made up of three men and three women are expected to pick tickets to Paris, and from what happened during the just concluded 2024 ITTF Africa Cup, there is a clear indication that it promises to be explosive and exciting when the battle to join the flight to Paris begins on Thursday, May 16.

26 men and 24 women from Algeria, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tunisia, Uganda, and host Rwanda will be up against one another in what promises to be entertaining, being the first time Rwanda will be hosting an international tournament of such.

Top seeds are Nigeria’s duo of Olajide Omotayo and Offiong Edem and Omotayo is expected to have his hand full against youngsters like Wassim Essid of Tunisia, Cameroon’s Ylane Batix, Madagascar’s Fabio Rakotoarimanana, and experienced Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu. 

Olajide Omotayo of Nigeria

The 2019 African Games champion is eyeing his second appearance at the Olympic Games aftyer his debut at Tokyo 2020. The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist may have put the semifinal lost at the just concluded ITTF Africa Cup behind him with the hope of pacifying himself with a ticket to Paris. But he needs to deliver when it matters most, against some of the continent’s finest stars.

Edem, a bronze medalist at the 2023 African Games, will be targeting her fifth Olympic Games appearance after competing at Athens 2004, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020. 

The 37-year-old former African Games champion will be relying on her experience against 2010 African Champion, Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou, who is aiming for her third appearance at the Olympic Games after featuring at London 2012 and Tokyo 2020. But Edem and Hanffou will face stiff competition from youngsters from Tunisia, Madagascar, and Mauritius when the tournament begins in Kigali.

According to the playing format,  the competition will be played in three stages. The first stage is a preliminary group of 3 or 4 players per group, while the second stage will see the group winners and runners-up from stage one qualify for stage two for the direct knockout system. 

The two finalists of stage two will qualify automatically for Paris, while the losers from the semi-finals of stage three will play a direct knockout to determine the third qualifier for Paris. All matches in Stage 1 will play the best of five games, while Stages 2 and 3 will play the best of seven games.