Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri defeated Cote d’Ivoire’s Oba Oba Kizito 4-0 to qualify for the semifinals of the ITTF Africa Cup.
The feat also sealed his place at the ITTF World Cup.
Other top African Table Tennis stars like Omar Assar, Hana Goda, Dina Meshref, Mariam Alhodaby, and Fatimo Bello also qualified for the World Cup by making it to the semi-final of the ITTF Africa Cup.
Hana Goda of Egypt was the first to secure her ticket with a commanding 4-1 victory over Tunisia’s Maram Zoghlami. Following her lead, Nigeria’s Fatimo Bello also triumphed 4-1 against Tunisian teenager Ela Saidi.
Omar Assar, a five-time Africa Cup champion, faced a tougher challenge. The Egyptian was pushed to his limits by Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa in the men’s quarterfinals but ultimately prevailed 4-2 to qualify for the World Cup.
Benin Republic’s Abdel-Kader Salifou earned his maiden ITTF World Cup ticket after defeating Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali 4-1 in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, nine-time African Cup champion Dina Meshref of Egypt overwhelmed Nigeria’s Aminat Fashola to make her return to the ITTF World Cup.
Mariam Alhodaby added a third ticket for Egypt with a dominant 4-0 win over Algeria’s Lynda Logrhaibi, securing her place in Macao, China.
Cameroon’s Ylane Batix also secured his maiden ticket to the ITTF World Cup after a 4-2 victory over Madagascar’s Antoine Razafinarivo in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Aruna will face Batix, while Assar will compete against Salifou in the Men’s Singles.
In the Women’s Singles semifinals, Goda will battle Bello, and Meshref will take on Alhodaby in the race to the podium in Tunis.