Quadri loses singles final to Assar in ITTF Championship
13-year-old Goda falls short in women's final
Africa’s top ranked player Aruna Quadri was defeated emphatically by Egyptian Omar Assar in the final of the men’s singles final at the 2021 African ITTF Championship. Teenage sensation Hana Goda was also defeated in the final of the women’s singles event at the Championship.
Aruna Quadri was competing in the men’s singles final against Omar Assar after defeating another Egyptian, Ahmed Saleh, in the semifinals, and the veteran Nigerian never really got going in the match as he was trounced 4-1 by his opponent.
Quadri started the match on the back foot after losing the first set to Assar 11-13. The experienced campaigner came back to claim the second set 11-9 before he was swept aside in spectacular fashion, losing the next three consecutive sets 6-11, 4-11 and 4-11 to surrender his continental crown to Assar.
Aruna lost to Assar in the singles final, but managed to exit the 2021 ITTF Championship with a respectable haul of two silver medals and a gold medal in the men’s doubles event.
In the final of the women’s singles event, 13-year-old Hana Goda sought to make history when she faced compatriot Alhodaby Mariam in the final of the tournament. She lost an eventful match 4-3 but did herself proud in the tournament.
The youngster Goda failed to start the match as she should have wanted as she lost the opening set 12-14 before taking the next three sets 11-5, 11-7 and 13-11. The more experienced Alhodaby Mariam then used all of her guile and experience to navigate her way from the brink if defeat as she won the next three sets 11-6, 13-11, and 11-6 to hand Goda a defeat in the match.
Hana Goda failed to win the final but has surely gotten the attention of the table tennis world after a spectacular performance throughout the tournament. Goda was part of the Egypt team that won the final of the women’s team event against Nigeria.
