Aruna Quadri one step to ITTF Africa’s final

Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and female compatriot Offiong Edem are into the semi finals ofthe 2018 ITTF-Africa Top 16 Cup, being decided in Nairobi.

Both the semi-finals and finals will be played today.Places in the Liebherr 2018 Men’s World Cup and 2018 Women’s World Cup are at stake.

In the Men’s Singles event Egypt is very much in evidence;in the penultimate round Omar Assar, the top seed, faces Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu, Ahmed Ali Saleh, the no.3 seed, opposes Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna.

Similarly in the Women’s Singles competition there is a strong Egyptian presence; at the semi-final stage Dina Meshref, seeded no.1, plays Nigeria’s Offiong Edem, the no.4 seed, Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou confronts Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi.

Listed at no.16 on the current Men’s World Rankings, Omar Assar starts as the clear favourite against Saheed Idowu, named at no.311 but the two have never met in recent times on the international stage and it would appear Omar Assar has some concerns.