Get Guardian on GoogleDINA Meshref is the only known name in the 14-man Egyptian team and she is ready to lead the North Africans to medal hauls at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour, Lagos Open.
With the absence of defending champion, Egypt’s Nadeen El-Dawlatly, the 20-year-old believes Nigerian players are beatable in front of their fans in Lagos.
El-Dawlatly defeated Meshref in the final of the championship in 2014 to win her first World Tour title and for this year, she will not be available following her knee injury.
Although Meshref, who recently won the ITTF Africa Senior Championship in Cairo, admits they would miss El-Dawlatly, she says the other players are capable of upstaging Nigerians.
“Of course Nadeen’s absence will definitely make a difference, as she is very well experienced against the Nigerian opponents. However, I believe that the four other girls accompanying me are capable of beating Nigerians too,” she boasted.
Being her second visit to Nigeria, Meshref believes the title would not elude her, even when she admits the battle would not be easy.
“Yes, I think I can win the tournament this year, and I really hope so. I expect that the competition will be tough especially from the Nigerian players as well as the Chinese from Portugal are for sure worthy competitors, and playing against them isn’t easy. But I expect that most medals will fortunately be for Egypt,” Meshref said.
