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Tag Offiong Edem

  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Sport

Saleh, Meshref beat Nigeria’s Aruna, Edem to win ITTF Africa Top 16 Cups

Table tennis
By Ijeoma Okigbo
Abuja, Feb. 26, 2020 (NAN) Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh and Dina Meshref on Wednesday in Tunis respectively won the men’s and women’s singles titles at the 2020 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cups.

Saleh took the shine off the highest-ranked player of the event, Quadri Aruna, as the clash lived up to its expectations.

It was 6-6 on head-to-head for the familiar foes before going into the competition’s final on Wednesday, and Saleh now leads after a 4-3 victory.

The Egyptian took the first set 11-6, but Aruna pushed his way to win 11-5 in the second.

The new champion came on to lead 11-9 in the third set, and the world number 18 ranked player chased on to win 11-6.

The Nigerian lost the fifth set 9-11 and defeated Saleh with same score in the sixth.

But the Egyptian finished the tough game with an 11-3 victory to claim the title.

Meanwhile, there was no stopping Meshref, who could be described as the queen of African table tennis as she claimed her fifth consecutive Africa Top 16 Cup in the women’s singles.

The 25-year-old defeated Offiong Edem 4-1 (11-2 11-8 8-11 11-5 11-6) to defend her title.

Meshref however explained in an interview the secret behind her winning the tournament consecutively since its inception in 2016.

“When I enter into any competition, I just stay focused, play my game and not think about how many times I have won it in the past,” she told ittf.com.

Earlier in the third-place matches, Omar Assar of Egypt and Cameroonian Sarah Hanffou emerged victorious over Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw and Helmy Yousra of Egypt.

While Assar won in the men’s singles, Hanffou won in the women singles.(NAN)
IHA/DE/OLAL
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(Edited by Dorcas Jonah and Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Tue, 2020
Sport

Aruna, Edem qualify for finals of ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup

Table tennis
By Ijeoma Okigbo
Abuja, Feb. 25, 2020 (NAN) Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Offiong Edem have both qualified for the finals of the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup tournament in Tunisia.

Aruna will face Ahmed Saleh of Egypt in the men’s finals, while Edem has set up an epic final against defending champion Dina Mesherf of Egypt in the women’s event.

It was an expected long battle as Aruna, the highest-ranked African player, faced the number two seeded player of the event Egyptian Omar Assar.

Assar holds a 9-6 head-to-head lead over Aruna, but the world ranked number 18 player showed a great comeback which helped him save the day.

The Nigerian lost the first two sets 5-11 6-11 to the defending champion but came up to win the next two sets 11-4 14-12 to set a tie.

Assar went further to top with a 7-11 point lead but Aruna’s resilience saw him overcome 11-5 12-10 in the last two sets to claim a 4-3 victory over the defending champion.

In the second semi-finals, Saleh made light work of Ibrahima Diaw of Senegal with a 4-1(14-12 11-7 3-11 11-9 11-7) win.

The women’s singles saw Edem claim a 4-2 (6-11 14-16 11-8 11-7 11-7 11-6) win over Yousra Helmy of Egypt.

Meshref also scaled past Sarah Hanffou of Cameroon in a 4-2 (11-6 11-1 11-13 9-11 11-7 11-4) win, a repeat of the 2018 ITTF Africa Cup final.

The finals of both events are scheduled for Wednesday.(NAN)
IHA/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

  • Feb, Mon, 2020
Sport

Aruna, Omotayo, Edem win first games at ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup

Table tennis
By Ijeoma Okigbo
Abuja, Feb. 24, 2020 (NAN) Highest-ranked African player Quadri Aruna, Olajide Omotayo and Offiong Edem on Monday all won their first games at the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Top 16 Cup in Tunis.

The three-day event which began on Monday is taking place at the Sports Hall of Rades, Tunis in Tunisia with 31 players participating.

Participating players —- comprising of 16 male and 15 female —- are grouped into four in both the male and female categories of the singles event.

Consequently, group one of the female category has only three players.

The first match in male group one was an easy game for Aruna as he saw off Adam Hmam of Tunisia 3-0 (11-5, 14-12, 11-4).

He is now looking forward to a match against Algeria’s Sami Kherouf in the same group.

The world number 18-ranked player will complete his group appearance when he faces Oba Kizito Oba of Cote d’ Ivoire.

Young sensation Omotayo came up strong after an early scare in his first game against Gedeon Kassa of the Democractic Republic of Congo in group 3.

The Congolese took the first set 11-8, but an incredible comeback from Omotayo saw him claim victory in the last three sets to win 11-6, 11-3, 11-7.

The Nigerian will wait for his remaining group matches against Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw and Algeria’s Larbi Bouriah to determine a possible quarter-finals berth.

In the female category, Edem dismissed Safa Saidani in a 3-1 (8-11, 11-9, 11-7,11-6) victory in her first group 2 game.

She then eased past South African Simeen Mookrey also in a 3-1 (11-3, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7) win in her second group game.

The 33-year-old’s last group game is against Seychelles Christy Bristol.

Egyptian Assar Oman is the reigning champion in the male category.(NAN)
IHA/JPE/OLAL
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)