Nigeria will begin its pursuit of medals in the table tennis competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with Quadri Aruna facing Romania’s Eduard Ionescu on Saturday. According to Pathway News, Aruna will compete in the first round of the men’s singles event against Ionescu, a rematch opportunity after Aruna’s 2-3 loss to Ionescu in the semi-finals of the European Champions League.
The draw for the event was held on Wednesday at the South Paris Arena, the venue for the competition. In another first-round match, Aruna’s teammate Olajide Omotayo will go up against Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan.
In the women’s singles, Offiong Edem will compete against Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi, while debutant Fatimo Bello will face Chinese-born French player Jia Nana Yuan.
Pathway News reports that the table tennis events at the Paris Games will run from Saturday to August 10 at the South Paris Arena. The competition includes five medal events: men’s and women’s singles, mixed doubles, and men’s and women’s team events. The women’s singles medal matches are scheduled for August 3, followed by the men’s singles on August 4. The mixed doubles medal matches will take place on Tuesday, August 6, with the men’s team event on August 9 and the women’s team event concluding the table tennis competition on August 10.
