Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri failed to win the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup after losing to Ahmed Saleh of Egypt in the final played on Wednesday in Tunis.
Saleh whose last major title was in 2012 defeated Quadri 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3 in the Men’s Singles to emerge champion.
In the Women’s Category, Dina Meshref defeated Offion Edem (11-2, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6) to retain her title which was her fourth trophy in the competition.
In the third-place matches, Egypt’s Omar Assar beat Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 while Egypt’s Yousra Helmy lost to Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 12-10.
Both champions spoke after winning their matches.
“I am very happy because I could not imagine that I will go past Aruna in this tournament. All I did was to focus from the first point to the end,” Saleh said.
“When I started the competition, I just stay focus, play my game and not think about how many times I had won it in the past. I must commend Edem because she is an experienced player who played extremely well. She changed tactic every time which sometimes makes it difficult to play against her,” Meshref said in a post-match conference..