17th March, 2014
Going by the draws for the 2014 World Table Tennis Team Championships, Nigerian players in both men and women’s categories will face tough times making headway at the tournament Japan in April.
Nigeria’s male team, which will be captained by Segun Toriola, will tackle top playing nations like Czech Republic and Belgium in division two of the tournament. Aside Czech Republic and Belgium, the team will confront the likes of Canada, Indonesia and Bosni-Herzegovina in Group E.
For the women pairing, the Funke Oshonaike-led side has been pitched against Commonwealth giant, India as well as Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Bulgaria in Group G. Nigeria’s men team first group match will be against Indonesia on 28 April, while the following day, the team will face Belgium and Czech Republic.
On 30 April, the team will take on Bosnia-Herzegovina, while their last group match on 1 May will be against Canada. For the women team, their first group encounter will be against India on 28 April, while on 29 April, the team will battle Bulgaria and Italy. On 30 April, Nigeria will clash with Portugal, while their last group match is against Turkey on 1 May.
The top teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinal stage with the last four teams gaining promotion to the championship division in 2016.
In 2010 and 2012, Nigeria’s male team made significant efforts to progress to the elite division but their efforts were not enough to secure a place for the team.
In the men’s seeding of Group E, Czech Republic is the top seeded team in division two and the team and Belgium are rated above Nigeria in the group.