African champions Quadri Aruna of Nigeria and Dina Meshref of Egypt have been handed tricky ties in the first round of the WTT Contender Durban taking place at the Olive Convention Center Durban in South Africa.
The Nigerian and the Egyptian are number four seeds in the men and women’s singles and they are expected to start their campaigns from the main draw in the first WTT Series taking place in South Africa.
The tournament serves as a dress rehearsal for the 2023 World Championships in Durban come May.
The $75,000 prize money tournament has Brazil’s Hugo Calderano and Germany’s Nina Mittelham as number seeds in men and women’s singles while for the first time, Botswana’s Ndelu Mooketsi and South Africa’s Zodwa Maphanga will be competing in the main draw of WTT even after working their way to the main draws.
Aruna who is the highest ranked African player in the world rated 15th will face a daunting task when he takes on Chinese sensation Sun Wen in the first round of the men’s singles.
The 26-year-old giant-killing Chinese star will be hoping to halt the dominance of Aruna over his compatriots which the Nigerian achieved at the 2022 WTT Star Contender in Qatar.
The Nigerian is a familiar foe for the Chinese having taken down some of their finest players in the party and Wen will be aiming to stop the reign of the African champion over his compatriots.
Like Aruna, Meshref who is the only top ranked African listed among the top seeds will confront German Chinese-born Yuan Wan.
The Egyptian will have to be at her best against the skillful German ranked 86th in the world and capable of causing an upset against the 28th rated African champion.
The tournament will end on January 15with winners earning 400 ranking points.
