In
continuation of their 2015 fierce rivalry, two of Africa’s best table
tennis players, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar will next
month in Khartoum, Sudan re-enact their competition at the International
Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Top 16 Cup.
Despite
being seeded ahead of Quadri in the December continental ranking
released by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Assar is aware
of the task ahead of him having being humiliated in the French league by
the 2014 ITTF Star Player last December.
Quadri,
who has fended off the pressure on him which affected most of his
performance against the Egyptian in three major finals in 2015, is the
right frame of mind to wrestle the dominance from the Egyptian.
For
the Sudan tournament, ATTF has confirmed Quadri and six-time Olympian,
Segun Toriola as well as Olufunke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong as
Nigeria’s flag-bearers.
In
the list of qualified released by ATTF, Quadri who won the tournament
in 2014 in Lagos will battle for the title against his rival, Assar who
has remained a threat to the Nigerian dominating the continent.
The
tournament is scheduled to hold on February 14 to 15 has the top 15
players in the continent including a player from the host country to
complete the top 16.
Toriola
will join Quadri to compete for the laurel in the men’s event while
Oshonaike who has already secured a place at this year’s Rio Olympic
Games in Brazil will be joined in the women event by Edem Offiong who is
at present plying her trade in the Portuguese elite league.
Having
claimed three titles in 2015, the Egyptian duo of Omar Assar and Dina
Meshref top the list of invitees for the two-day tournament to be staged
at the International Conference Centre in Khartoum, the capital city of
Sudan.
Winners in the men and women events will represent the continent at the 2016 World Cups.
The list of participants is:
Men: Omar
Assar (Egypt), Quadri Aruna (Nigeria), El-Sayed Lashin (Egypt), Saheed
Idowu (Congo Brazzaville), Segun Toriola (Nigeria), Idir Khourta
(Algeria), Suraju Saka (Congo Brazzaville), Olouwachehoun Guiganfode
(Benin), Mawussi Agbetoglo (Togo), Sofiène Boudjadja (Algeria), Adem
Hamam (Tunisia), Fessou Lawson-Gaizer (Togo), Alain Patrick Jague Niken
Jiotsa (Cameroon), Derek Abrefa (Ghana), Emmanuel Ngwe Nikeng (Cameroon)
Women:
Dina Meshref (Egypt), Nadeen El-Dawlatly (Egypt), Han Xing (Congo
Brazzaville), Olufunke Oshonaike (Nigeria), Offiong Edem (Nigeria), Sara
Hanffou (Cameroon), Islem Laid (Algeria), Lynda Loghraibi (Algeria),
Zodwa Maphanga (South Africa), Amma Liobaka (Democratic Republic of
Congo), Onyinyechi Nwachukwu (Congo Brazzaville), Cynthia Kwabi (Ghana),
Harriet Ntumnyuy (Cameroon), Celia baah-Danso (Ghana), Isabel Albino
(Angola).
-TheNation
