$100,000 prize pool for 2026 WTT Contender Lagos, starting May 19

Lagos will once again take centre stage in the global table tennis calendar as the 2026 World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender begins on Tuesday, May 19, with at least 30 players ranked among the world’s top 100 set to compete.

The six-day tournament, which will be held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium’s Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall, will feature a total prize purse of $100,000 across five categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Players from countries including Japan, South Korea, France, Portugal, Egypt, Romania, India and Belgium are expected to participate, further cementing Lagos’ growing status as one of Africa’s premier destinations for international table tennis.

Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference in Lagos on Monday, Adesoji Tayo, chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), said fans should expect top-quality action.

“WTT Contender Lagos has become a fixture on the calendar of many top players, and each year it grows in leaps and bounds with quality attendance,” he said.

“We are grateful to the Lagos State Government and our sponsors, Prime Atlantic, Baba Ijebu and CFOmoto, for their consistent support. With the calibre of players signed up, fans should expect explosive matches this year.”

Tournament Director Kweku Tandoh highlighted how the event has evolved since its debut in 2013 as the Lagos State Table Tennis Classics.

The competition later became the Nigeria Open in 2016, the ITTF Challenge Open in 2019, and was upgraded to the WTT Contender Lagos in 2023.

“This tournament has firmly established Lagos as a global table tennis destination,” Tandoh said.

The tournament will begin with two days of qualifying matches, with the main draw scheduled to start on May 21.

Defending singles champions Anders Lind of Denmark and Honoka Hashimoto of Japan will return to defend their titles in what organisers expect to be one of the most competitive editions yet.

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