After a ten-year wait, Team Nigeria regained the
Men’s Team title at the 2018
ITTF-African Championships staged in Port Louis, Mauritius on Wednesday 5th September.
Aside from winning the gold medal, Nigeria will represent the continent at the ITTF Team World Cup to be held in Tokyo, Japan. Nigeria, the top seeds of the competition, had quite an easy run, posting a three-nil victory in every fixture leading to the final, and so did their traditional rival Egypt.
Victory
At the final, Nigeria recorded a three-matches to one win against Egypt, who put up a very good fight, though not enough to retain their title.
Aruna Quadri gave Nigeria the lead after he defeated Ahmed Ali Salem (11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-2) in the first match, however Mohamed El-Beiali leveled the scores by beating Bode Abiodun (12-10, 11-9, 11-4). Nigeria needed a game changer, and Segun Toriola was just the man for the job; he got the better of Khalid Assar (13-11, 1-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) and put Nigeria back in the lead.
Quadri ably defeated El-Beiali (5-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5, 11-6) in the final duel to seal the win for Nigeria.
This means Nigeria has now won the Men’s Team event at the African Championships
11 times, while Egypt has won the title on 12 occasions.
