Sports
15:31, 09-Aug-2018
ITTF upgrades Nigeria Open to Challenge Plus in 2019
Updated
15:09, 12-Aug-2018
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The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) upgraded Wednesday the annual Nigeria Open in 2019 to the Challenge Plus status, which means the event will have more prize money, world ranking points, better playing conditions and TV production.
This year's Nigeria Open runs between August 8 and 12 in the port city of Lagos.
The Challenge Series is the Tour below the premier ITTF World Tour, which aims to provide players from around the world valuable playing opportunities to get the experience and world ranking points to take the next step to playing ITTF World Tour events.
The Challenge Series was carried out in 2017, and Nigeria Open was launched from the first edition.
The ITTF announced 17 Challenge Series events for the 2019 season, aiming for at least one on every continent, up from nine events in 2018.
The event is divided into two tiers for the first time, with the top one called Challenge Plus. Portugal, Oman, the DPRK, Nigeria, Paraguay and Canada Opens will be running such events.
Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Thailand, Mexico, Poland, Belarus, Morocco, Indonesia and Turkey will hold the second-tier event.
(With input from agencies)