Two days after losing two gold medals to Egypt in the table tennis single events, Team Nigeria, again, fell to the superior power of the Pharaohs in the team event decided yesterday some hours before the opening ceremony of the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.
After losing the singles titles (male and female) two days ago, many Nigerian table tennis followers were looking up to a different results in yesterday’s team event finals in Accra. But it turned out to be another one-way traffic, with both Nigerian teams falling with same scoreline to the Pharaohs at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Omar Assar, Youssef Abdelaziz and Mohamed El-Beiali conquered Nigeria’s trio of Olajide Omotayo, Quadri Aruna and Taiwo Mati to maintain their unbeaten run in the event.
Assar defeated Omotayo 3-0 in the first game, while Abdelaziz finally halted Aruna’s dominance with a 3-1 win. El-Beiali edged Mati 3-1 to complete the 3-0 rout by the Egyptians.
Also, the Egyptian female team continued their unbeaten streak dating back 2011 in the table tennis women’s team event after beating Nigeria 3-0 in the final.
The trio of Dina Meshref, Hana Goda and Mariam Alhodaby were dominant against Nigeria’s trio of Offiong Edem, Hope Udoaka and Fatimo Bello to retain their title at the games.
Since dethroning Nigeria at Maputo 2011 in Mozambique, the Egyptian ladies, led by Meshref, have dominated the event to continue their reign as the continent’s best female team.
In the history of the games, Nigeria has won the women’s title seven times from 1978 to 2007, while Egypt’s dominance started from 2011 till date in the women’s event.
The two countries had lived up to expectations from the group matches to the knockout rounds of the team event, pummeling most of their opponents on their way to the finals.
On their way to the final, Aruna Quadri guided the Nigerian side to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over another North African team, Tunisia, in the semifinal.
On their part, the Egyptian, who are 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 Pharaohs that prevailed.
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.
Yesterday’s defeat in Accra, Ghana was the second since their last meeting at Rabat 2019 Games, Egypt prevailed in the men’s event to dethrone Nigeria. The Egyptians have dominated the women’s event in the last three editions of the African Games.
