The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has formally announced the qualification of Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi for the singles event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
This confirmation, issued on Friday, highlights the athletes selected from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
“As the countdown to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games intensifies, ITTF is thrilled to announce significant progress in the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the statement read.
With less than 50 days to go until the Games, this week’s world ranking update saw eight athletes secure their spots based on continental quotas allocated by the World Ranking.
In the Men’s Singles draw, African powerhouse Quadri Aruna from Nigeria has qualified alongside Nicolas Burgos from Chile representing the Americas, Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan from Asia, and Alvaro Robles of Spain from Europe, who previously qualified in Mixed Doubles.
The Women’s Singles competition will feature a similar level of global talent, with Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi representing Africa, Adriana Diaz from Puerto Rico for the Americas, Singapore’s Zhou Jingyi for Asia, and Monaco’s Yang Xiaoxin for Europe. These athletes can now officially begin their preparations for their Olympic dreams in Paris.
The ITTF stated that the qualification process is nearing its final stages, with only one more world ranking update scheduled before the final roster for Paris is confirmed.
“Next week’s world rankings will be crucial in determining the final competitors for the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Games,” the ITTF added.
A total of 86 men and 86 women are expected to compete in the singles events of the Olympic Games.
Additionally, the ITTF has named three Africans among the umpires for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Akram Ben Attia from Tunisia, Es-Sayed Elrawdy from Egypt, and Ronald Mugwanya from Uganda.