ITTF World Team Championship: Nigeria, Egypt Fail To Gain Promotion

Africa’s best teams – Nigeria and Egypt were beaten by India at the ongoing ITTF World Team Championship to miss out from gaining promotion to the Championship Division of the tournament.

Nigeria and Egypt were unbeaten in the group stages winning all their five matches to top Group F and H respectively to make it the quarterfinal stage.

But the two teams were beaten by India in the quarterfinal and semifinal stages of the competition.

Despite beating India 3-0 in the group round, Nigeria met a strong Indian team in the quarterfinal as Nigeria’s trio of Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola and Bode Abiodun met a formidable Asian side led by their talisman, Sharath Achanta.

Despite losing the first two games against Gosh Soumyajit, Aruna Quadri levelled up to win 3-2 and this gave Nigeria a 1-0 lead but Achanta restored parity with a 3-0 win over Segun Toriola. Bode Abiodun put Nigeria ahead again with a 3-1 win over Harmeet Desai to put the encounter at 2-1 in favour of Nigeria.

The battle for supremacy now turned to Achanta and Aruna Quadri but experienced prevailed over youthfulness as Achanta defeated Quadri 3-1 to put the match at 2-2.

Segun TORIOLA

However, youthfulness overcame experience when Gosh Soumyajit and Segun Toriola clashed in the fifth match with Gosh Soumyajit winning 3-0 to give India the unexpected victory against Nigeria.

Unlike the battle they faced to beat Nigeria 3-2, India had an easy win over Egypt in the semifinal with Achanta being the architect of the victory.

In the first game, Omar Assar ran over Gosh Soumyajit with a 3-0 victory but Achanta as usual restored parity with a 3-0 win over Mohammed El-Beiali in the second match.

What was expected to be an easy ride for Egypt in the third match became their undoing as Harmeet Desai demystified El-Sayed Lashin 3-1 to puncture the confidence of the Egyptian.

Omar Assar

But what really made the match out of the reach of Egyptian was the manner and way Achanta easily dismantled Omar Assar with a 3-0 bashing to stop any African team from making it to the elite division of the competition come 2018 in Sweden.

Congo Brazzaville failed to gain promotion to division two while they will campaign in same division in 2018 while Togo and Tunisia still maintained their status in division four.

Nigeria, Egypt Berth In Quarterfinal of ITTF World Team Championship

Africa’s flagbearers in the ongoing ITTF World Team Championship, Nigeria and Egypt have affirmed their readiness to gain promotion to the Championship Division after both teams secured their places in the quarterfinal stage of the men’s division two.

Nigeria completed their unbeaten run in Group F with a 3-0 rout of Vietnam to make it five wins in five matches while Egypt was made to work hard for their last group victory against Hungary. But at last it was the North Africans that prevailed over the Europeans 3-1 to record their fifth victory in Group G.

To top Group F, Nigeria defeated Turkey, Switzerland, India, Slovakia and Vietnam while Egypt overcame Mexico, Norway, Argentina, Slovenia and Hungary.

For Nigeria, this is the first time the West African giant will be unbeaten in all their matches.

The Segun Toriola led team narrowly missed out on qualification in 2014 in Japan after losing to England in the quarterfinal stage of the championship.

Nigeria and Egypt will now battle with other qualified teams for places in the last four of the championship.

Omar Assar

Speaking after the victory over Hungary, Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali said: “I am so happy that we won and I must thank God for this victory. I think we have achieved one of our targets, which was to qualify as the best team from the group. Now our next target is to make it to the Championship Division. I think with the way we have been playing in this competition, I feel safe with the team because of the unity and understanding among us. It was not easy in this group but with the unity in the team coupled with determination we are getting closer to our dream of making it to the elite division.”

Bello Shines As Nigeria Finishes Third At ITTF African Clubs Championships

Debutant Ahmed Bello dazzled as Nigeria’s Union Bank Sports Club yesterday finished third at the 2015 ITTF African Club Championships concluded in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Bello who was making his international debut for the bankers’ team failed to save the team from losing 3-0 to Egypt’s Ahly in the semifinal stage of the men’s event at the Multi-Purpose Complex in Yaounde.

To make it to the last four, Union Bank tutored by Coach Samson Ajayi nearly caused an upset in their first group match against defending champions, Club Avenir of Congo Brazzaville made up Chinese-born stars – Jianan Wang and Bin Hu as well as their Nigerian imports – Suraju Saka and Saheed Idowu.

Ahmed Bello Union Bank Sports Club

After Azeez Ogunlade fell to Wang 3-0, debutant Ahmed Bello caused the biggest upset of the competition when he defeated Africa’s number six ranked player, Suraju Saka 3-2 to give the Nigerian team a ray of hope. But David Fayele could not withstand Saheed Idowu as he was beaten 3-0. Again, Ahmed Bello became the cynosure of all eyes as he gave Wang a run for his money in the fourth match and without any doubt it was the experience of the Chinese that aided his 3-1 triumph over the unknown Nigerian. The Congolese team won 3-1.

However, this defeat did not dampen the spirit of the young Nigerians as they walloped their counterparts from Cameroon and Ethiopia to set up a semifinal clash against Ahly of Egypt which has top players like Omar Assar, El-Sayed Lashin and Mohammed El-Beiali. The Nigerian side surrendered to the Egyptians to settle for bronze medal.

However, Saheed Idowu was particularly thrilled with the performance of Bello, saying, “He played as if everything was at stake and he never bothered about the pedigree of his opponent especially being his first international outing. I am impressed and I hope players like this can be encouraged in Nigeria,” Idowu said.

ITTF WORLD TOUR (LAGOS OPEN) DAY 4

Winner International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Men’s Under21 Shagdy Magdy of Egypt

The Round of 16, Quarter Finals and Semi-finals of games (Singles & Doubles) went down today at the Dr.Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

There were lots exciting moments to savour as Table Tennis supporters from far and wide came to watch the best players in Africa and in the world do their thing.

Nigerian Athletes have proven their worth as Ojo Onaolapo, Aruna Quadri, Funke Oshonaike and Edem Effiong have all made it to the semi-finals in the singles event.

The future also look good for Nigeria as far as table tennis is concerned as we saw a scintillating performance from Hassan Nurudeen who seems to be getting better as the day goes by and who might end up winning the U-21 title next year.

Dina Meshref at the International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Togo

The Foreign players have also put up fine displays in this tournament like Jieni Shao, Dina Meshref, Andre Silva, El-Belaili Mohammed.

DAY 4

RESULTS(Doubles)

MEN

QUARTER FINAL

* A.Silva & D.Siva def A.Ogunalade & O.Omotayo (3-1)

* K.Assar & O. Assar def O.Guinganfode & M.Olabiyi (3-0)

* El-Beiali & S.Magdy def M.Fathy & A.Mabrouk (3-0)

* Q.Aruna & M.Kazeem def O.Onaolaopo & B.Oyeniyan (3-1)

SEMI-FINAL

* A.Silva & D.Silva def K.Assar & O.Assar (3-1)

* Q. Aruna & M.Kazeem def El-Beiali & S.Magdy (3-2)

WOMEN

QUARTER FINAL

*D.Meshref & J.Shao def F.Ajala & N.Aroyehun (3-1)

*G.Nasser & Y.Helmy def R.Oguindele & E.Oribamise (3-0)

*C.Akpan & O.Edem def F.Abdel-Aziz & F.Alaa(3-0)

*O.Atinuke & I.Ermakova def F.Bello & A.Odusanya (3-1)

SEMI- FINAL

* D.Meshref & J.Shao def G.Nasser & Y.Helmy (3-2)

* C.Akpan & O.Edem def O.Atinuke & I.Ermakova (3-2)

SINGLES

Round of 16

MEN

* El-Beiali def N.Hassan (4-2)

* O.Onaolapo def M.Babatunde (4-1)

*M.Kazeem def O.Olaniyi (4-2)

* Q.Haruna def H.Adeyinka (4-0)

* A.Silva def A.Fagbamila (4-0)

* K.Assar def D.Silva (4-3)

* B.Oyeniyan def S.Ramadan (4-2)

* O.Assar def M.Fathy (4-0)

International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Togo

QUARTER-FINAL

* Q.Aruna def M.Kazeem (4-0)

* O.Onaolapo def El-Beiali (4-2)

* O.Assar def B.Oyeniyan (4-1)

* A.Silav def K.Assar. (4-1)

Funke Oshonaike, International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Togo

WOMEN

QUARTER FINAL

*D.Meshref def Y.Helmy (4-0)

* O.Edem def J.Effiom (4-0)

* O.Oshonaike def G.Nasser (4-3)

* J.Shao def I. Ermakova (4-0)

FIXTURES

MEN’S DOUBLES FINAL

*A.Silva & D.Silava vs Q.Aruna & M.Kazeem

WOMEN’S DOUBLES FINAL

* D.Meshref & J.Shao vs C.Akpan vs O.Edem

Winner International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Men’s Under21 Shagdy Magdy of Egypt

MEN’S SINGLES

SEMI- FINAL

* Q.Aruna vs O.Onaolapo

* O.Assar vs A. Silva

WOMENS SINGLES

SEMI-FINAL

* D.Meshref vs O.Edem

* O.Oshonaike vs J.Shao.

Lagos ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Meshref Are Top Seeds

As the highest world-rated players listed for the competition, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Dina Meshref have been seeded the top players in the men and women singles events of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour tagged Lagos Open.

In the seeding list released by the world table tennis ruling body, ITTF, Quadri who is rated 32 in the world is seeded number one while his arch-rival and defending champion, Egypt’s Omar Assar is seeded number two while Assar’s compatriot, Mohammed El-Beiali is number three.

The absence of Nigeria’s Segun Toriola may have paved the way for El-Beiali, who accounted for Quadri’s exit in the quarterfinal stage of the ITTF Africa Senior Championships to be seeded number three in the tournament.

Also listed in the top eight seeding list of the men’s singles are Portugal’s Andre Silva, Nigeria’s Boboye Oyeniyan, Egypt’s Khalid Assar, Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo and Togo’s Mawussi Agbetoglo.

Last year’s runner’s up and ITTF Africa Senior Championship winner, Meshref tops the women’s top four seeding list. Nigeria’s Funke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong are seeded two and three respectively, while Russia’s Irina Ermakova is seeded fourth.

In the U-21 seeding, defending champion in the boys’ category, Nigeria’s Onaolapo is seeded number one, while other players listed in the top four seeding list are Egypt’s duo of Shady Magdy and Mahmoud Fathy as well as Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo.

Nigerian Women’s Team, at the 2015 ITTF-Africa Senior Championships

Egypt dominated the girls’ U-21 seeding with 20 year-old Meshref topping the seeding list. Her compatriots – Fatma Alaa and Yousra Helmy also made the list while the only Nigerian in the top four seeding list is Funke Hassan.

Meanwhile, over 90 journalists drawn from newspapers, magazine, radio and television stations including two international media, Supersport and Xinhua have been accredited for the championship serving off on March 10 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria.