Nigeria’s table tennis champion, Aruna Quadri was yesterday defeated by Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh in the singles finals at the 2020 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Top 16 Cup which ended in Tunis.
In the gruelling encounter to ensued between the continental heavyweights, Saleh, whose last major title was in 2012 defeated Quadri 4-3 (11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3).
Asides Saleh, Egypt’s Dina Meshref continues her dominance in Africa when she edged out another Nigerian, Cecilia Offiong Edem 4-1 (11-2, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6) to retain the title being her fourth trophy since the inception of the competition in 2016.
In the third place matches, Egypt’s Omar Assar beat Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 12-10) while Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou defeated Egypt’s Yousra Helmy 3-1 (11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 12-10) to settle for bronze medals.
An elated Saleh said: “I am very happy because I could not imagine that I will go past Aruna in this tournament. All I did was to focus from the first point to the end,” he said.
Saleh, an Egyptian veteran added: “I really don’t want to quit at 40 as I want to play until my body cannot do it anymore. I love table tennis and I will continue.”
For Meshref, winning the title this year was a bit tasking. “When I start any competition, I just stay focus, play my game and not think about how many times I had won it in the past. I must commend Edem because she is an experienced player who played extremely well.
“She changed tactic every time which sometimes make it difficult to play against her,” admitted Meshref
