Latest reports said Chinese Taipei, Italy, Tunisia, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo and Ghana are among the countries that have confirmed participation in the first Lagos International Table Tennis Classics billed for August 26 to 31.
Chinese Taipei's duo of Lin Chia- Hui and Chiang Hung-Chieh are expected, as well as Italy's national champion, Mihai Bobocica, who has declared his ambition to excel at the classics.
Organisers told National Mirror yesterday that Chia-Hui and Hung- Chieh would compete in the women's and men's singles event and the mixed doubles.
The 24-year-old Hung-Chieh is Chinese Taipei's national player rated 62 in Asia and is a former World University Champion who enjoyed a successful career at the youth categories, winning several ITTF World Junior Circuits.
The offensive right-handed player also recorded some excellent results at the last World Championships in France, defeating top seeds like Kim Hyok Bong of North Korea and Lee Sangsu of South Korea.
Bobocica is a Romanian-born Italian player who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in China and London. He is ranked 89 in the world and he is Italy's number one player ranked 33 in Europe.
Tunisia Table Tennis Association Technical Director, Ghazi Belkahi, also confirmed the participation of Adam Hmam and Abderrazek Souabni, while current African women champion, Congo Brazzaville's Chinese-born Han Xing will also be part of the championship, as well as Nigerian-born Saka Suraju, who will represent Congo Brazzaville.
According to Competition Manager, John Peters, the presence of top players across the globe would surely bring back the golden era of table tennis in Nigeria.
"When we had competitions like the Bournvita Open, players used to come from China, Japan, England among others to participate," Peters recalled.
"I think the latest development is the beginning of good things to come for our table tennis," he said.
National Mirror