Nigeria table-tennis star Aruna Quadri was Africa’s biggest shinning light, even as he lost to world number one, Fan Zhendong in the third round of the men’s singles.
Despite the 30-year-old encouraging display, he could not defeat the Chinese – losing 4-0 (12-10, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9)
Apart from Quadri, other African players that participated in the competition failed to make it beyond the group stages.
Players from Ivory Coast, Algeria, Mauritius, Congo DRC, Congo Brazzaville and Madagascar failed to win any match in their group as they were knocked out early.
Africa’s powerhouses, Nigeria and Egypt showed the stuff they were made of in all their matches with majority of them winning at least one match in the group, even though some couldn’t make it to the main draw.
Quadri of Nigeria, Egypt’s duo of Omar Assar and Dina Meshref did not compete from the group stage but were seeded in the men and women singles. As a result of this, they started their campaign from the main draw.
In the group stages, Egyptian veteran, Ahmed Saleh was the only player that fought his way from the group to the main draw, while Nigeria’s Bode Abiodun, who topped his group, bowed out to Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhadrawi in the preliminary round.
German-based player Omar Assar failed to live up to expectations as he squandered a 3-1 lead against Portugal’s Joao Geraldo to lose 3-4 in the first round.
Former African Champion Segun Toriola and Olajide Omotayo of Nigeria won a match each in their groups, but didn’t make it past the group stages.
Africa’s only hope in the men’s singles was Quadri, who set a new record for himself at the World Championships by making it to the round of 32. A feat the Nigerian described as another milestone in his career.
With this feat, Quadri will hope for a better ranking when it is released next week.
All eyes will now be shifted to the 2019 African Cup and games holding later this year.
