Quadri Aruna and Olajide Omotayo are among top African stars listed for the first official events of the World Table Tennis (WTT) in Qatar on March 3 to 13.
The two events which have $600,000 as prize money will take place at Lusail Sports Arena in Doha.
According to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the Middle East Hub will feature two tiers of the new WTT event structure with WTT Contender Doha kick-starting the tournament before players move onto the first WTT Star Contender event the following week.
This will provide the perfect preparation for some of the world’s leading stars to be challenged by the best up-and-coming athletes in table tennis.
Aruna who is the highest rated African in the world ranked 21 will join world-class talent set to light up Doha in the men’s events such Xu Xin (China, world-ranked 2), Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan, WR 5), Hugo Calderano (Brazil, WR 6) and Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei, WR 7).