Aruna-Quadri
Egypt’s OMAR Assar and Dina Meshref, yesterday, emerged winners of the men and women’s event of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Top 16 championship, which held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Assar defeated Aruna Quadri 4-3 to overthrow the Nigerian, who won last year’s edition hosted by Morocco.
Quadri did not allow his crown to go without a fight, as he stretched Assar and fought back from 1-3 back to 3-3 before finally succumbing to the Egyptian.
In the women’s competition, Meshref beat Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou 4-1 to retain the title she won last year. Their achievements in Kenya spoke volume of the Egyptians dominance of the sport on the continent.
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By these victories both Assar and Meshref would fly the continent’s flag at the ITTF World Cup later in the year.
“I am quite happy that my dream of making it to the ITTF World Cup has become a reality because the tournament is special to me,” Meshref said after her victory.
“Against Sarah, I was a bit calm and thought well before making any tactical decision. I did not really expect her to give me a tough time, but after the first two games, she played well and raised her game, and I must commend her for putting up a good performance.”
Meanwhile, the pair of Nigeria’s Edem Offiong and Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh won bronze in the doubles event after beating Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi and Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu for the third place game.
Top 32 players made up of 16 men and 16 women competed in the three-day tournament with the winners in both categories taking home the sum of $5, 000.
Source: G Sport
