The race to secure tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games begins on Friday, as the African Qualification Tournament gets underway at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.
26 men and 24 women from Algeria, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tunisia, Uganda, and host Rwanda, will clash over the three-day competition.
Six players – three men and three women – who will proceed to the Paris Olympic Games will emerge from the qualifiers taking place in the biggest indoor arena in East Africa.
While most of the players are still fresh from the just-concluded 2024 ITTF Africa Cup, all eyes are on the top seeds, Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo and Offiong Edem, who are both medalists at the Africa Cup.
Omotayo, who made his debut at Tokyo 2020, aims to return to the biggest sports fiesta in the world. However, he would have to be at his best against strong contenders like youngster Wassim Essid of Tunisia, Cameroon’s Ylane Batix, Madagascar’s Fabio Rakotoarimanana, experienced Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu and Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa.
Going by his performance at the Africa Cup, the 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist should seal his place in Paris on the second day of the tournament – May 17 – when the finalists in men’s and women’s events will secure their slots in Paris.
Omotayo’s compatriot, Edem, a bronze medalist at the 2023 African Games, is eager to make her fifth Olympic Games appearance, having competed at Athens 2004, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020.
But the former African Games champion has the 2010 African Champion, Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou, to contend with. Hanffou is aiming for her third appearance at the Olympic Games, after featuring at London 2012 and Tokyo 2020.
However, Edem and Hanffou are expected to face stiff competition from Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci and other youngsters from Madagascar and Mauritius.