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By: Johnny Edward
Nigerian table tennis legend, Segun Toriola, will lead Team Nigeria to the 2024 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan, South Korea, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The WTTC tournament, which also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, holds from February 16 to 25.
According to a statement from the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Toriola was picked to replace former national coach Nosiru Sule based on his wealth of experience and his cordial relationship with most of the top players in the national team.
At the Busan 2024 WTTC tourney, the Nigerian men’s team will face Japan, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic and Madagascar in Group 8.
In the women’s category, the Nigerian team was drawn against Germany, Slovakia, Poland and Mexico.
The eight groups of five countries in each group will be aiming to advance to the knockout rounds.
Each group will play a round-robin, with each team facing off against the other four teams in their group. After the round-robin, the top three teams from each group advance to the knockout phase.
The top eight from the tournament get automatic tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Nigerian delegation is aiming for an improved performance and a chance to clinch Olympic tickets in the men and women’s events.
In 2023, Nigeria missed out on the continent’s sole ticket to the Games after losing the final in both categories to Egypt at the African Championships in Tunis, Tunisia.