The 2024 ITTF Africa Cup and Africa Olympic Qualification Tournament get under way in Kigali on Sunday, May 12 and will run until May 18.
The two table tennis competitions will take place for the first time at BK Arena throughout the week, attracting athletes from 17 countries across countries.
Speaking to the press on Saturday, May 11, Rwanda Table Tennis Federation (RTTF) president John Birungi said that everything is in place to ensure that Rwanda hosts both the two big competitions.
"I am so happy that it has become a reality that we are hosting two major competitions on the continental calendar. This is the first time we are hosting major African championships in the year of the Olympic Games. We are very ambitious and capable of hosting WTT events to toe the line of Egypt and South Africa, the only two African nations to have hosted the world championships,” Birungi said.
"We are very grateful to the ITTF and the ATTF for considering us and their firm belief in us that we can stage a major competition of this status. This would not have been possible without the huge support of the Government of Rwanda and other supporters, and we are not taking this for granted. We are confident that we can do bigger events in the near future."
Thrilled by the state-of-the-art venue, the BK Arena, President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy, lauded Birungi and his team for matching their words with action with the quality of the venue and other facilities in place for the tournament.
"I am so excited that this is a reality based on the promise made when the hosting rights were awarded to Rwanda in Tunis last year. From the look of things, it is clear that Rwanda is capable. They have shown great ambition with what they have put in place. We are very excited that they are hosting a tournament of this magnitude for the first time. They have put everything in place to ensure a hitch-free event,” El-Salhy said.
The ITTF Africa Cup opens on Sunday and will run until Tuesday, May 14 followed by the Africa Olympic Qualification Tournament which will take place from Thursday, May 16 to Saturday, May 18.
Some renowned athletes who are in the country for the competitions include Nigeria’s Quadri Akinade Aruna who represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals in 2016. He is the first African player to be ranked top 10 in the world.
Another notable participant is 16-year-old Egyptian Hana Goda. Goda is an Egypt is currently number 28 on ITTF world ranking and only second in Africa. In May of 2022 she became the youngest player who won ITTF Africa Cup event when she was 14 years and 7 months old.
Others include Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa and Ruqayyah Kino of Mauritius to mention a few.