By Francis Ajuonuma
Italy’s Carlos Rossi, Dimitrije Levajac of Serbia, Leo De Nodrest of France, Manush Utpalbhai of India, Thibault Poret of France and James Marfo of Ghana have all crashed out in the men’s singles preliminary round of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Lagos ongoing at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Playing in the preliminary round 1 for progression into the next stage and possibly to the main draw, Rossi lost to Vincent Picard by 3-0 (11/5, 11/5 and 11/40 to kiss the tournament bye, while French man, De Nodrest was sent out by Woo Hyeonggyu 3-1 (6/11,14/16,14/12 and 9/11)
Utpalbhai’s nemesis was Korea’s Park Gyuhyeon who won the game 3-0 to progress into round 2 of the qualifiers where he will now face off with Nigeria’s Ahmed Bello for a place in the main draw which begins on June 15. Bello had outplayed fellow countryman, Gbenga Ajulo 3-0 (7/11, 8/11 and 6/11) in Monday’s preliminary round 1.
Also through to round 2 of the preliminary is Joe Seyfried, who defeated Serbia’s Levajac in round 1 and will take on a formidable opponent, Harmeet Desai of India who booked a bye into the round.
Jeet Chandra of India will have his hands full as well when he plays against Englishman, Samuel Walker who was drawn bye into the round. Chandra defeated Poret of France 3-2 (11/3, 2/11, 13/11, 14/12 and 10/12) in a keenly contested game.
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Ghana’s James Amarfo was bundled out of the tournament by Martin Buch Andersen of Denmark 3-0 (5/11, 6/11 and 7/11), who will face Frenchman, Bastien Rembert in today’s round 2.
Speaking after his game against, Marfo, the Dane, who is coming to Africa for the first time, said it was difficult adjusting to the Nigerian weather but is happy to have won the game.
“It’s my first time in Africa. Being in Lagos is a little bit more humid than I am used to. And I feel like the people are happy and are very nice.
“I am happy to win my first match because first match is not always easy. I am satisfied going into the second match. I just hope to play well and somehow find my game. And if the results comes, then it comes but, so let’s see, ” he said as he looks forward to his game against Rembert.
In the women’s singles, Li Yake of China and Sarah De Nutte will attempt to outplay each other as they eye a place in the third round. De Nutte gained bye into the round, while Yake defeated Cynthia Kwabi of Ghana 3-0 (11/3, 11/4 and 11/4) to set the stage for this game.
However, Cecilia Akpan’s hope to progress far in the tournament and accumulate more points for her world ranking will be put to a serious test as he faces India’s Archana Girish Kamath, who was also drawn bye in the round. Akpan had defeated fellow country woman, Rofiat Jimoh 3-1 ( 5/11, 4/11, 11/5 and 5/110 in round 1 of the preliminary decided on Monday.
