WORLD T’TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Nigeria Gets Tough Draws against Czech, Belgium, Others

Nigeria’s male team has been handed a tough draw for the 2014 World Table Tennis Team Championships, as the
Aside Czech Republic and Belgium, the team will confront the likes of Canada, Indonesia and Bosni-Herzegovina in Group E of the competition holding next month in Tokyo, Japan.
In the women pairing, the Funke Oshonaike-led side has been pitched against Commonwealth giant, India as well as Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Bulgaria in Group G.

Segun Toriola-captained side will tackle top playing nations like Czech Republic and Belgium in division two of the tournament.

Nigeria’s men team first group match will be against Indonesia on April 28, while on April 29 the team will face Belgium and Czech Republic.
On April 30, the team will take on Bosnia-Herzegovina while its last group match on May 1 will be against Canada.
The Nigerian women team’s first group encounter will be against India on April 28, while on April 29, the team will battle Bulgaria and Italy.
On April 30, Nigeria will clash with Portugal, while its last group match is against Turkey on May 1.
The top teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinal stage with the last four teams gaining promotion to the championship division in 2016.

In 2010 and 2012, Nigeria’s male team made significant efforts to progress to the elite division but their efforts were not enough to secure a place for the team.
In the men’s seeding of Group E, Czech Republic is the top seeded team in division two while even Belgium is rated above Nigeria in the group.
However, in the female category, the Nigerian team has not been impressive since 2008 in
Guangzhou, China while at the 2012 edition in Dortmund, Germany, it managed to escape relegation to division three.
In this year’s edition, the trio of India, Italy and Turkey are seeded ahead of Nigeria while Portugal and Bulgaria are lower than Nigeria in the ranking.

Meanwhile in the championship division, defending champion - China has been drawn in Group A alongside Austira, Russia, Brazil, Poland and Serbia, while Germany is in Group B with Hong Kong, Croatia, Singapore, Denmark and Ukraine.
Hosts Japan has been pitched against Portugal, France, Greece, Romania and Hungary in Group C, while South Korea will tackle the likes of Chinese Taipei, Sweden, Belarus, Spain and North Korea in Group D.