Just like it has been happening so it is this year as two heavyweights in the continent – Nigeria and Egypt clash in the team event finals of table tennis at the 13th African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana.
The two seeds in the team event lived to expectations from the group matches to the knockout rounds, pummeling most of their opponents on their way to the finals.
In the men’s event, Quadri Aruna guided the Nigerian side to the final after spearheading a hard-fought 3-1 win over Tunisia in the semifinal round to set up another epic final against the Egyptian side.
On their own, the Egyptian as the defending champion were not threatened until the semifinal round where they were tested by the Mehdi Boloussa-inspired Algerian side but it was the Egyptian that prevailed to qualify for the final scheduled for Friday, March 8 at the Accra International Conference Centre.
For the women’s event, Nigeria had a smooth ride to the final with a convincing 3-0 win over South Africa in the semifinal while Egyptian ladies like their male counterparts had a jolly passage to the final where they will face Offiong Edem-led Nigerian side.
In their last meeting at Rabat 2019, Egypt prevailed in the men’s event to dethrone Nigeria while the Egyptians have dominated the women’s event in the last three editions of the championships.
Meanwhile, South Africa became the history makers in the women’s event as the Danisha Patel-inspired side claimed their first ever medal at the African Games after settling for a bronze medal with an all-important quarterfinal win over host – Ghana.
The quarterfinal win over Ghana was what Patel needed to become the first South African player to lead the female team to win a medal at the African Games.
“We are so excited with the medal because it has been years of investment on us that we were able to attend World Championships and other major events in the last few years. We believe this medal will inspire young players in South Africa to embrace the sport and continue to work harder. We are grateful to the South Africa Table Tennis Board (SATTB) for their unflinching support and we believe this will bring more development to the sport,” the 31-year-old said.
