Havana, August 31 (RHC) -- The Expocuba fairgrounds in Havana will host the Pan American Table Tennis Championship, an Olympic and world qualifier, from September 10 to 17.

Eighteen countries will participate in the competition, including the United States and Canada (represented by players of Chinese origin), as well as Brazil and Argentina.

Among the individual players, Brazil's Hugo Calderano, perennial leader in the Americas and number five worldwide, will stand out in a discipline historically dominated by China.

In the Cuban capital, 16 men's and 15 women's teams will compete for two places for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The first six places in the individual modality will win quotas for the World Championship in Busan (South Korea) 2024.

Bárbaro Oliva, president of the Cuban Table Tennis Federation and national commissioner, told ACN that achieving Olympic qualification is practically impossible for Cubans in this tournament.

"But there will still be possibilities towards Paris, where the best access option is the mixed duo with Daniela Fonseca and Jorge Campos, just like in Tokyo in 2021," he said.

Along with Fonseca and Campos, the national representation in the Pan American competition includes the distinguished tennis player Andy Pereira and the new but experienced Adrián Pérez, Eday Gómez, Estela Crespo, Lizdainet Rodríguez and Rosalba Aguiar.

The competition will serve as a model for the Pan American Games to be held in Santiago de Chile from October 20 to November 5.

For Cuba, which will also host the Pan American table tennis assembly, the continental championship will be the eleventh international event organized under Oliva's leadership in this dynamic sport.