After placing second in their group, the Egyptian women’s team advanced to the second round of the 2024 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships, which are now being held in South Korea.
However, in both of their encounters in South Korea, Egypt’s men’s team ultimately prevailed over Thailand, and Nigeria is the first African nation to be eliminated from the competition.
Egypt began the tournament winless after being placed in the same group with Romania, Iran, Portugal, and Thailand. However, the African champion came back to defeat Thailand 3-1 and place ahead of Thailand in the group.
African teams like Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa, and Madagascar have all lost in the first round of the tournament, in contrast to Egypt.
One of Africa’s heavyweights, Nigeria, suffered an early blow when their talisman, Quadri Aruna, withdrew due to food poisoning. This hurt the team’s chances as Olajide Omotayo and Bode Abiodun played against China Taipei, Madagascar, and the Czech Republic; on the opening day of the competition, the team also lost to Japan by a walkover.
Additionally, their women’s team did not escape the tournament as they placed last in the group that included Slovakia, Germany, Mexico, and Poland. They lost all three of their games to the other four teams, dropping them to the bottom of the standings.
The men’s and women’s teams from Algeria and South Africa suffered the same fate after failing to make a record.
However, the Dina Meshref-led Egyptian women’s squad gave the continent cause for celebration when they placed second in Group 8 behind France. The African champion advanced to the competition’s second round by defeating the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Croatia, and suffering their lone loss against France.
While conceding that the competition would aid in team preparation for the African Games in Ghana next month, former African Games champion Edem Offiong has attributed the African teams’ poor performance to a lack of preparation.
