It will be a repeat of the 2015 final in the Men’s Singles on Tuesday, March 5, when current African champion Quadri Aruna battles former African Games champion Omar Assar at the 13th African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana.
The table tennis event being the first sports discipline to kickstart the 13th edition of the African Games attracted fans to the Accra International Conference Centre who were daily treated to exciting matches from some of the continent’s top table tennis players.
From the round of 16 tie, Aruna played his best till he got to the final where he will face his arch-rival Assar.
After beating Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz in the quarterfinal close contest, Aruna worked hard to defeat another Egyptian in Mohamed El-Beiali to qualify for his third consecutive final at the African Games.
The Nigerian lost the title to Assar at Brazzaville 2015 and was also defeated by his compatriot – Olajide Omotayo at Rabat 2019 and he is eagerly looking forward to his first African Games title in Ghana.
For Assar, his route to the final was not without its usual hassles as he had to dig deep to edged out defending champion Omotayo in the quarterfinal which ended close contest in the quarterfinal which ended 4-0 in his favour, and he continued his good run with another convincing 4-2 win over Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw in the semifinal.
In the women’s singles, it is a repeat of what had happened in previous African Cup and Championships as defending champion Dina Meshref slugged it out against her compatriot Hana Goda in the final.
Meshref who has won the last two editions of the women’s singles title will be up against debutant Goda who at 16 had established herself as the youngest African champion in history.
Goda will be eyeing another history of becoming the first youngest winner of the African Games title against Meshref who will also be aiming for her third consecutive title at the games.