TheCable

Aruna Quadri’s quest to retain his continental crown has ended in disappointment as he lost 4-1 to Egypt’s Omar Assar in the final of the men’s singles at the 2021 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African championship.

Aruna was overwhelmed by the Assar, who was near perfect with his strokes and smashes.

The Egyptian took the first set 13-11, but Aruna levelled the scoreboard with an 11-9 victory in the second set.

Assar then proceeded to sweep the Nigerian aside in the subsequent sets 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.

It wasn’t all gloom for Aruna as he exited the tourney as the champion in the men’s doubles event alongside Bode Abiodun.

The duo defeated Khalid Assar and Saleh Ahmed 4-2 on Monday to reclaim the men’s doubles gong for Nigeria.

In the women’s singles, 13-year-old Hana Goda’s giant-killing spree was halted by Mariam Ahodhaby in the final.

It was a keenly contested match that had the two Egyptians battling each other in a topsy-turvy affair.

Ahodhaby took the first set before surrendering the next two sets to Goda. But the teenager couldn’t hold her much more experienced opponent at bay.

The match swung in Ahodhaby’s favour, and she ramped up her matches to win the subsequent sets and consequently the tournament.