Following the unsatisfactory condition of the venue, the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) has postponed the start of table tennis to Wednesday, August 21, 2019.
The table tennis event was supposed to kick off today August 20 with team event which serves as qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games but the continental body headed by Egypt’s Khaled El-Salhy with the jury expressed dissatisfaction with the poor lighting in the hall to shift the start by one day.
speaking at the draw on Monday, August 19, El-Salhy said the jury decided to move the start by one day to allow the organisers to put the lighting in shape for the event.
“The first event is very important to all the teams as it is the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and we want all the teams to play under the good condition without any complaints particularly in the area of lighting. We are not satisfied with the lighting condition and we have met the organisers to ensure that this is fit. We have decided that the event can now start on Wednesday but this will not affect the schedule of matches and the time the event will end. The shift will only give teams the chance to play more matches before the singles and doubles events. For us, we want the teams to have the good condition without complaints. The organisers have also listened to us and they are working tirelessly to fit the light according to specification,” the ATTF chief said.