By Thompson ABISOLA
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has unveiled the seeding list for the 2018 ITTF Challenge Seamaster Nigeria Open holding from Aug. 8 to Aug. 12 in Lagos.
A total of 169 players made up of 108 men and 61 women from 27 countries will be competing at the 46,000 dollars prize money championships which is the second highest prize money tournaments in ITTF Challenge Series.
The ITTF said on Sunday on its website that 32 players made made the men’s singles seeding, with Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri seeded number one, being the highest ranked player in the competition.
Russia’s Alexey Liventsov is number two seed, while Finalnd’s Benedek Olah who won the event in 2016 was seeded (3), Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (4), England’s Samuel Walker (5), France’s Alexandre Robinot (6).
Others seeded among the top 10 are Argentina’s Horacio Cifuentes (7), Hungarian Tamas Lakatos (8), Scotland’s Gavin Rumgay (9) and Thailand’s Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon (10).
In the women singles, Olufunke Oshonaike is the only Nigerian that made the top 10 seeding list, with Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut seeded number one, while Hungary’s Szandra Pergel is seeded number two.
Others are Italy’s Giorgia Piccolin (3), Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte (4), Italy’s Debora Vivarelli (5), Slovenia’s Alex Galic (6), Colombia’s Paula Medina (7), Nigeria’s Oshonaike (8), Norway’s Ilka Doval (9) and Egypt’s Yousra Helmy (10).
In the U-21 categories, defending champion in the men’s event, Romania Rares Sipos is the number one, while Norway’s Ilka Doval is seeded number one in the women category.
Meanwhile, 2018 African Youth Games bronze medalist, Esther Oribamise is the only Nigerian listed in the top eight players seeded in the women’s U-21.
According to the ITTF, three Nigerian players, Rilwan Akanbi, Nurudeen Hassan and Joshua Oladiran made the seeding list in the men’s U-21.
