Table Tennis: Lagos, Durban To host 2023 WTT Series
Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos, and South Africa’s coastal city, Durban have been listed among the cities that will host the World Table Tennis (WTT) Series in 2023.
The two cities are set to host WTT events in 2023 after the WTT unveiled the first half of its events calendar for the 2023 season of the WTT Series and WTT Feeder Series.
According to the calendar released, Durban has been listed to kick off the WTT Series in January with the WTT Contender Durban. It will be the first time a WTT Series event will be staged in the Republic of South Africa, and will serve as a rehearsal before it hosts the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in May of the same year.
In June, Nigeria also got a nod to host its maiden WTT event with the WTT Contender Lagos. This will be the first time the city will be staging a professional table tennis event of this format since the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open was last held in 2019.
Also on the calendar is the third edition of the WTT Contender Tunis to be held a week after Lagos in June. Tunisia will for the third consecutive year host the best hands from all around the world in February for the WTT Youth Star Contender Tunis and then the WTT Youth Contender Tunis in September.
The WTT Youth Contender Cairo then concludes the list of African cities on the 2023 events calendar of WTT Youth Series.
The first half of the year will also bring a return of a blockbuster event. Singapore hosted the first-ever Grand Smash event in 2022, marking the start of a brand new legacy for table tennis as building on 2022 momentum continues to be a key theme in the latest calendar.
- Read more: Lagos Has Become Africa’s Table Tennis Hub – ITTF Africa President
- Read more: Table Tennis: Nigerian Sensation Matthew Kuti Shines In Cairo
The first half of the year sends the WTT Series and WTT Feeder Series across three continents for more than 15 events, but that’s just the beginning. Players and fans can look forward to the series landing in the Americas, Europe, and Asia in the second half of 2023, creating a truly global series.
Champions events will also be touching down in new locations around the world and a second Grand Smash will be unveiled, rounding out an action-packed 2023 WTT Series calendar.
The stage will then be set for players to chase World Ranking points in a bid to qualify for the season-ending WTT Cup Finals and pursue the top honour of closing out the season as the year-end World Number one. Details of the second half of the 2023 calendar will be announced in due course.
Chidi Nwoke/ITTF Africa.
