Egyptians dominate at ITTF World Tour Lagos Open

The 2015 International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Lagos Open turned out to be a successful outing for Egypt players who carted home three individual honours and thousands of dollars in prize monies.

Defending champion and recently crowned African champion, Egypt’s Omar Assar, continued his brilliant performance since the year began, beating number one seed, Quadri Aruna, at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

Assar, ranked 37th in the world, defeated Africa’s highest ranked player, Aruna, in the men’s singles final 10-12, 15-13, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 8-11 on Saturday to pocket the $6,000 grand prize. The Egyptian has now won four times in their six meetings.

Egypt also ruled the U-21 categories as Shady Magdy and Dina Meshref won the men’s and women’s events respectively.

Magdy defeated Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo, while Meshref overcame compatriot Yousra Helmy to claim her title.

Meshref was later to tag with Portugal’s Jieni Shao to win the women’s doubles following their victory over the Nigerian duo of Cecilia Akpan and Offiong Edem on Saturday.

Shao also went home with the women’s singles title and $6,000 prize money after beating Meshref 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 11-13, 8-11 in a tense match.

Aruna had his consolation, however, in the men’s doubles when he tagged with Makanjuola Kazeem to beat Portuguese duo of Andre Silva and Diogo Silva 6-11, 8-11, 9-11 in the final.

A heartbroken Aruna told the media after the game that he expected Assar to be tough even though be believed he would win.

“It was a fifty-fifty chance between the two of us. I was expecting to beat him but I know he would be tough. I made a few mistakes that gave him some points so he capitalised on it,” Aruna, ranked 31 in the world, said.

Assar also admitted it was a tough encounter for him but delighted in his ability to defend the title successfully.

“It was a difficult match for me because at the start of the match, I was disturbed by the noise from the fans, however, as the match progressed I adjusted and I started playing normally and my tactics began to work,” the Egyptian said.

“Also, it was a very tough match because Quadri has been in top shape in recent times. He beat me in the team event at the recent Africa Senior Championship in Cairo.”

He added, “I am so happy that I was able to defend my title and having the record of winning it three times”, concluded Omar Assar. Lagos is a good ground for me and I look forward to returning next year.”