Just a few days to the commencement of the 2024 WTT Contender Lagos, the host Wildcards and WTT Nominations have been confirmed for the first WTT Series in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Heading the list of wildcards is Manika Batra of India who got the host wildcard entry.
Batra made history as the first Indian player to reach the quarterfinals of a WTT Grand Smash event at last month’s Saudi Smash 2024 and is expected to feature prominently in the Women’s Singles title race at her first WTT Contender Lagos.
Batra’s fellow Indian compatriots Ayhika Mukherjee and Diya Parag Chitale also join the Women’s Singles line-up as Host Wildcard entries, while Jieni Shao of Portugal also qualifies directly for the main draw as the WTT Nomination.
In the Men’s Singles draw, the Indian duo of Manush Utpalbhai Shah and Akash Pal have been named as Host Wildcards for the event. Shah will be on a mission to pick up some points to make a move up the global ladder. It has been two years since the World No.179 has been inside the Top 100 and a wildcard ticket could be just the thing to accelerate his rise back up the ranks.
For Pal, it is a golden opportunity in Lagos, with it being the 22-year-old’s first WTT Series showing outside of India.
The host country’s attention will be fixed on youth sensations Muizz Adegoke and Abdulbasit Abdulfatai as the local up-and-comers take up positions in the main draw as Host Wildcard and WTT Nomination entries respectively.
Both players made their WTT Series debut in the qualifying rounds at last year’s WTT Contender Lagos 2023, and now get their first taste of main draw action on the Series.
Host wildcards have also been granted in Men’s Singles Qualifying, with Yaroslav Zhmudenko of Ukraine and Mehdi Bouloussa of Algeria prepped and ready.
It’s a second chance for the duo to make an impact in Lagos, after falling in the round of 32 in the 2023 edition of the event.
WTT Contender Lagos 2024 brings the WTT Series to Nigerian shores from June 19 to 23 June.
Joining the WTT Series event calendar in 2023, this is the second-ever WTT Contender event to be staged in Nigeria, hosting table tennis talent from the world over for a week of high-octane action at Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall.
