Despite strong performances, Quadri Aruna, Nigeria’s top men’s table tennis player and two-time All Africa Games silver medalist, and Edem Offiong were unable to secure gold medals. Aruna narrowly lost in the final to Egypt’s Omar Assar, while Offiong faced a challenging semifinal defeat against Egypt’s Dina Meshref.
Nigeria’s quest for its first gold at the All-African Games came to a disappointing end as Aruna Quadri lost to his Egyptian rival, Omar Assar, in the men’s singles final on Tuesday night in Accra.
This marks another unsuccessful attempt for Aruna, who has competed in the African Games for the fourth time since his debut in 2011.
Assar secured victory over the Nigerian table tennis star with a score of 4-3 in a closely fought match, reminiscent of their showdown in 2015 when Assar won the gold medal.
However, the last time Aruna managed to defeat Assar in the same tournament was in 2019 in Rabat during the semifinals, but he was unable to overcome fellow Nigerian Olajide Omotayo in the final.
Following the match, Aruna gracefully accepted his fate and expressed hope for a better outcome in future competitions.
“It’s really hard and tough. But, of course, we keep fighting. It’s not about winning all the time; it’s about sportsmanship,” Aruna said.
“This is why we are professionals; this is what we are made to do. It’s always a very difficult match; it shows that the competition level is improving.”
Edem wins Bronze
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles category, Edem Offiong won the bronze medal to become the first medalist for Nigeria at the ongoing tournament. Having defeated the Alhodaby twins in the quarterfinal, Edem lost 4-0 to Dina Meshref in the semifinal.
“I am so happy that we were able to attend the last World Championships in Korea, and this really helped my game a lot. I want to thank the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation for their support, and I believe attending such a competition really helped me personally here in Ghana.
“The Egyptians are ahead of us because they attend more competitions than us, and we hope we can get such support to return to the top of the game in Africa,” Edem said.
On Wednesday, the Nigeria women’s team will take on the Madagascan team in continuation of the games going on in Ghana.
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