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Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, Egyptian Assar get tough opponents at ITTF World Cups

Nigeria’s sole flagbearer at the ITTF World Cups Macao 2024, Quadri Aruna has been drawn in Group 15 of the men’s singles as the Nigerian will slug it out against Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez. Egypt’s Omar Assar has also been handed a tough task of progressing from the group.

The 48 players have been drawn into 16 groups of three players in each group with the winner in each group advancing to the second stage of the competition.

Aruna who has been regular face at the ITTF World Cups remains the first and only African to have reached the quarterfinal stage of the $1m prize money tournament and he is expected to begin his campaign against Portugal’s Freitas on Monday, April 15 while his last group match will be on Tuesday, April 16 against Puerto Rico’s Gonzalez.

Also, Egypt’s trio of Omar Assar, Ahmed Saleh and Mohamed El-Beiali have been drawn into group 16, 11 and nine respectively.

African Games champion Assar will slug it out against Sweden’s Truls Moregard and Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan.

Egyptian veteran Saleh has been handed a tough group 11 as he will battle former European champion Dan Qui of Germany and Japan’s Shunsuke Togami. El-Beiali who is debuting at the ITTF World will jostle for top spot against Korea’s Jang Woojin and France’s Simon Gauzy in group nine.

Also, three Egyptians and a Cameroonian will represent Africa in the women’s singles as Yousra Helmy, Hana Goda and Mariam Alhodaby will campaign in group nine, 12 and 11 while Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou will compete in 11 alongside Korea’s Joo Cheonhui and Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi.

According to ITTF, top seed Wang Chuqin of China is set to commence this inaugural Men’s World Cup campaign against Kirill Gerassimenko and An Jaehyun in Group 1.

With flawless head-to-head records against both opponents (2:0 against Gerassimenko and 5:0 against An), Wang appears to have a favourable path to progress to the next stage. With two previous titles in Macao at the WTT Champions Macao 2023 and 2022, Wang is setting the stage for an impressive performance next week that is sure to delight fans.

The defending champion, Fan Zhendong, will embark on his title defense against Wong Chun Ting and Benedikt Duda. With an impressive 16-match win streak, Fan aims to continue his momentum by securing his 17th and 18th victories early in the tournament.

Recently claiming the WTT Feeder Varazdin 2024 title and a Mixed Doubles ticket to the Paris Olympic Games, Wong is currently in top form and will pose quite a challenge to the World No. 2.

In the Women’s Singles, top seed Sun Yingsha faces her initial challenges in Group 1 against Chen Szu-Yu and Zhu Chengzhu. Having encountered both opponents multiple times and emerging victorious in each encounter, Sun’s campaign in the World Cup is expected to commence without major obstacles.

Nonetheless, given the new four game format, the outcome on the table remains unpredictable, leaving room for any player to seize victory.

In Group 4, defending champion Chen Meng will confront Sreeja Akula and Natalia Bajor as she strives to reclaim her title. This encounter will represent the first meeting between the 2020 Women’s World Cup winner and either Akula or Bajor. Notably, Akula and Bajor have only faced each other once before in 2019, where Akula emerged victorious with a narrow 4-3 margin.

2016 Women’s World Cup winner, Miu Hirano will kick off her 2024 World Cup run facing off Jia Nan Yuan and Jocelyn Lam in Group 14. A sense of intrigue surrounding this group, this will mark the first encounter for any of these players on the international stage.

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Newstap/SWAN Five Star Sports Award Excites Ebi Egbe

Chief Executive Officer of Monimichelle Sports Facilities Construction Ltd, Ebi Egbe says he’s highly honoured to be nominated as one of the receipients of the forthcoming maiden Newstap SWAN Five Star Sports Award

He stated this when he received his letter of nomination from the Editor of Newstap Communications and South West Secretary General of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria.

According to him, the recognition is an indication that Nigerians value what his company is doing noting that they’ll never compromise standards but will be moving with technological innovations.

“It’s always nice to be recognized. At Monimichelle Limited, we’ve been doing our best to make sure we bring in the best for sporting infrastructure not just in Nigeria, but the entire African continent. So I’m excited to be receiving this award from Newstap Communications and SWAN

” I also want to say that what this award shows is that the world is following our good track record. And this have really propelled us to continue doing what we’re doing. So I want to appreciate the organisers of this award for finding me worthy to be honoured.
He also assured Nigerians that his company will continue to provide the best services which is in tune with the latest technology.

“At Monimichelle, we don’t like to sit at the back seat. Even though we are an African company servicing African market, we’re following technology as it’s revolving in the world because technology changes everyday in the sports industry and we always make sure we give our clients the best of services and will continue to do so”, he concluded.

CEO of Monimichelle Group Ebi Egbe (middle) flanked by Editor of Newstap, Ifeanyi Eduzor (right) and Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN official Charles Ogundiya when Egbe received his letter as one of the recipients of the Newstap/ SWAN Five-Star award billed for March 7 in Lagos.

Other reciepients of the Five Star Sports Award includes, the Executive Governor of Benue State, His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, GTI Assets Management and Trust Limited, a company that has turned around the nation’s premier league, the NPFL, President of Remo Stars, Kunle Soname and Chairman of Benue State Football Association who is also the only founder of two women clubs in Nigeria – Naija Ratels and Benue Queens, Barrister Paul Edeh.

The event comes up on Friday, March 7, 2025 at the Bamboo Hall of the prestigious Eko Club, off Bode Thomas Street Surulere, Lagos.

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Karim Benzema Hints Return To Real Madrid

Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema has hinted at a desire to return to the club once he has brought down the curtain on an illustrious playing career.

Benzema is second on Madrid’s list of all-time goal-scorers, ahead of icons Raul and Alfredo Di Stefano, having netted 354 times across 14 years. He is also fifth on the club’s all-time appearance list, playing 648 games between 2009 and 2023.

Madrid have welcomed former players back in a variety of off-field roles in the past, with 1980s stars Jorge Valdano and Emilio Butragueno among those to have had prominent executive positions. Raul has been in charge of Real Madrid Castilla since 2019, with Alvaro Arbeloa currently a youth coach. Santiago Solari had spells in charge of various sides up to first-team level, with Zinedine Zidane famously serving as an adviser before two spells as head coach.

Benzema admitted in a Mega interview that he doesn’t know if coaching is the path he wants to take, only that he wants to be “close” to president Florentino Perez.

“The other day, I was with Florentino in Madrid. When he signed me [in 2009], I told my father that as long as he was at Real Madrid, I would be there,” the Frenchman explained.

“He was the first person I called when I decided I was leaving. He didn’t quite understand…I told him that the youngsters, Vinicius and Rodrygo, were ready. When I retire, I want to be close to football. Coach? I don’t know, it seems more complicated than being a player. I want to be close to Florentino.”

Benzema, now 37, is currently in his second season with Saudi Pro League giants Al Ittihad.

“I feel good here,” he said. “My life is like in Madrid. I get up, train at home in the gym and in the afternoon I train with the team. In the evening, I sometimes go out to dinner or to the beach. Here you can’t walk down the street either, people are crazy about football.”

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Fulham Condemn Manchester United Fans Racist Abuse on Calvin Bassey

Fulham have condemned the “abhorrent” racist and homophobic online abuse directed at Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey following Sunday’s FA Cup penalty shootout win at Manchester United.

Nigeria defender Bassey, who scored the opening goal at Old Trafford, shared some examples of the unsavoury abuse he had received on social media.

“We strongly condemn this abhorrent behaviour, which has no place in football or society,” Fulham said in a statement.

“Such actions are entirely unacceptable, and we stand in full support of Calvin Bassey, who will continue to receive our full backing.

“We will do everything in our power to work with the relevant authorities in identifying the perpetrators of these vile messages and taking the strongest form of action against them.”

Bassey’s online abuse follows recent cases involving Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, England defender Kyle Walker, Newcastle United’s Joe Willock and Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw.

In a recent interview with BBC Sport, Samuel Okafor, chief executive of anti-discrimination body Kick It Out (KIO), said the level of abuse in English football had “reached crisis point”.

Bassey’s goal was cancelled out in the second half by Bruno Fernandes, with the game staying level at 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes and extra time.

Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee missed for United in the shootout to send the Cottagers into the quarter-finals, where they will host Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage.

BBC