Quadri wins men’s singles title, Meshref takes ladies’ crown

Lagos Open champion, Aruna Quadri added the continental men’s singles title to his trophy chest when he beat Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh 4-1 in the final match of the ITTF African Championship, which ended in Mauritius yesterday. Egypt’s Dina Meshref won the women’s version of the title.

Quadri did not drop a point from the first round (round of 64) until the final when he defeated Saleh 4-1 to win his first African Championships title which he narrowly lost to Egypt’s Omar Assar in 2016.

Also, Meshref, who lost the title to Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike in 2016, reclaimed her title after a convincing 4-0 win over compatriot, Reem El-Eraky in the women’s singles final.

An elated Quadri said his next target is to win the African Games, which he is yet to have in his kitty.

“I think I have won virtually all the titles in Africa… the only one I am still hungry to win is the African Games title, which I will continue to work hard to win it next year in Morocco.

“I am happy that I am winning this African Championships title for the first time, particularly less than one month after I won the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open in Lagos. I am grateful to the Mauritian fans for their support throughout all my matches,” he said.