Egypt demonstrated her supremacy in African table tennis as they won gold in the men’s and women’s singles at the ongoing 13th African Games being hosted in Ghana.
Egypt’s Mohamed Assar Omar picked up the gold medal in a very frenetic contest, with Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri edging the latter 4-3 in the finals of the men’s singles.
The two table tennis players demonstrated why they are the two top seeds in Africa after playing some magnificent table tennis, with fans left ecstatic at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Nigeria’s Aruna took an early 2-1 lead in the contest, showcasing his powerful forearm shoots, which caused the Egyptians lots of problems.
But Omar adjusted very well to Aruna’s dominance and staged a late comeback to win the contest in an emotional and pulsating affair.
The women’s singles final also saw two Egyptians, Hana Goda and Dina Meshref, lock horns in a very fascinating encounter after easily sailing through to the grand finale.
Hana Goda, who is Africa’s top table tennis se
ed, dominated her counterpart to pick the gold, while Meshref settled for the silver medal.
Speaking to GNA Sports after her win, Hana Goda, who won the set 4-2, expressed her delight at being the first winner of the gold medal at the games.
‘I am very excited about the win because it was a very difficult encounter. We know each other very well, having played in the finals of four major African championships.
‘When I took the 3-0 lead, she started to play very well, and she didn’t give up until the end, so I was very grateful that I finished her up in the last set,’ she said.
The two bronze medals in the men’s single category were won by Diaw Ibrahima (Senegal) and Mohamed El-Beiali (Egypt).
In the women’s category, Lucie Mobarek from Algeria and Effong Edem picked up the two bronze medals.
The table tennis competition continues on Wednesday with mix and team doubles and is expected to end on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
Source: Ghana News Agency
KEETMANSHOOP: Newly elected ||Kharas football second division league executive committee (exco) chairperson Emrico has vowed to ensure that all teams in the league register a young team or adopt a school team to develop the sport at the grassroots level.
This, he said, will allow an exchange of expertise in the game of football as well as develop a working relationship with schools in the region.
In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday Blaauw said during his five-year tenure he will also make women’s football a priority, with at least one ||Kharas women’s team in the Elite Women Super League.
‘Teams from the second division are faced with the challenge of transportation of players and officials to attend away games as it is costly and there is a need to source funding from the public and private sector,’ he said.
The chairperson further said the new exco is busy fostering a working relationship with South Africa’s Football Association in the Northern Cape, to build relations and cooperation in the area of
football between the ||Kharas Region and the Northern Cape.
‘Since our players from the south find it very difficult to penetrate through the Windhoek route, we can make use of the twinning agreement between the ||Kharas Region and the Northern Cape, to ensure our players and teams play there. We know we have talent in the south and we can sell our players that side. We believe if we sell our players, the small teams from the first and second division from our region will make more money and this will also allow our players to be scouted in South Africa,’ he said.
Other exco members include Renaldo De Klerk as vice-chairperson, Zayne Beukes as secretary and Luken Shivela as treasurer, while Fanny Boois, Vyvion Kheibemab and Lesley Boois are additional members.
Blaauw emerged victorious during an election that took place here over the weekend, where 11 out of the 17 member teams voted in favour of Blaauw.
He competed against Mesag Natanael, who received only six votes.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency