ALGIERS – The Algerian table tennis selection will participate in the 25th African Senior Championships (men and women), scheduled from Saturday at the Dome of the Mohamed-Boudiaf Olympic complex (Algiers), with the objective of “equaling or do better than the three bronze medals” won, during the last edition disputed in Cameroon in 2021, assured the head coach of the team Mustapha Belahcen.
“We are ready for these African Championships that Algeria is hosting for the first time in this category. Our table tennis players who are continuing their preparation in Zéralda (Algiers) with a final pre-competitive course focused on the psychological aspect and concentration before the start of the tournament, will have the mission to “equal or do better than the three bronze medals won in the previous edition,” Belhacen told APS.
In order to achieve this objective, the national technical staff has selected twenty (20) table tennis players, including 10 girls, who will compete with more than a hundred table tennis players from 28 African countries, the best of which occupy the top of the ITTF (federation international).
“The athletes selected for these games, three of whom play in clubs in France, remain the best Algerians of the moment, with the experience required to play this kind of tournament. The 20 selected will play all the singles (individual), while in teams, we will enter 5 boys and girls and in mixed doubles we will participate with four doubles. And in each event, we keep the chances of doing good performances, we just have to believe in their chances of being able to go as far as possible. far as possible in their ordeals”, assured Mustapha Belahcen.
In addition to Algeria, this qualifying competition for the Worlds scheduled in South Africa, records the participation of 27 countries, namely Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Libya, DR Congo, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, Senegal, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Congo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Benin and Botswana.
To prepare for the meeting in Algiers, Algerian table tennis players have benefited from non-stop preparation in Algiers, since the Mediterranean Games in Oran (July-2022), with a regrouping in France, just before the games in Oran. .
“I think that on this point the athletes have no complaints. The federation has put the means at its disposal for the preparation of the athletes. Now the competition will allow them to self-assess, first of all individually, and it is up to us to do the same for the collective work and the orientations that the coaches will give to all the table tennis players”, explained the head coach.
The Algerian representatives will be fixed on their adversaries at the end of the draw, scheduled for Friday evening, while the competition will begin on Saturday and will last until next Friday with the finals of the single tables (men and women).
“Our chances of medals will depend on the result of the draw, which will determine our opponents. Obviously our wish is to avoid the favorites in the first rounds, especially in individual (direct elimination)”, indicated Belahcen, underlining that “our best chance of a medal rests with Mehdi Bouloussa, who will be playing his second official competition with Algeria, after WYD-2022”.
“We also have the Boudjadja-Kherouf and Kessaci Katia-Lynda Loghraibi doubles, who will be seeded in the draw and will have a slight advantage to go as far as possible in the competition,” he added.
During the previous edition of the African championships in Cameroon, the Algerian selection won three bronze medals, thanks to Sami Kherouf-Larbi Bouriah and Mohamed Sofiene Boudjadja (by team), mixed doubles (Sami kherouf / Lynda Loghraibi) and doubles gentlemen (Boudjadja-Kherouf).
This 25th edition of the African table tennis championships records the presence of the best table tennis players on the continent, the Nigerian Aruna Quadri (10th in the world), the Egyptian Omar Assar (15th) to which are added the holders of the African titles, at the image of Egyptians Mariam Alhodaby and Hana Goda as well as Nigerians Fatimo Bello, Olufunke Oshonaike.
