African Cup Champions Aruna & Meshref Qualifies for 2017 ITTF World Cups

Quadri Aruna & Dina Meshref claims titles at the 2017 ITTF-African Cup to qualify for 2017 ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups

 

Nigeria’s Quadri ARUNA & Egypt’s Dina MESHREF have emerged Champions at the 2017 ITTF-African Cup that concluded yesterday 3 July 2017 in Agadir Morocco to secure their places at the 2017 ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups later this year.
 
In an epic final Men’s Singles final clash ARUNA ended the dominance of his long time rival Omar ASSAR (EGY) in a tight seven-games encounter claiming a 4-3 (11-7 3-11 11-8 4-11 11-8 8-11 11-9) victory to make his second consecutive appearance at the Men’s World Cup.
 
“I am so happy today that I won because it was not an easy match ” stated the elated 28-year-old. “I am happy that my backhand worked well in the match because I was afraid to use it against my friend – Omar Assar whom I know was in his best form this time. I think Omar Assar played and that I was just lucky today because sometime luck played crucial role in matches.”
 
The Women’s Singles final was another classic Egypt – Nigeria clash between Dina MESHREF (EGY) & Olufunke OSHIONAIKE (NGR). In the very same venue where OSHIONAIKE shocked the young Egyptian last year at the 2016 ITTF-African Championships to reclaim the African Championships title 24 years after her first the 41-year-old was not able to repeat her success against MESHREF this time round.
 
The 23-year-old Egyptian was determined not to let history repeat itself putting up an impressive performance to sweep the title 4-0 (11-7 11-9 11-8 11-2) leaving no chance for OSHIONAIKE to fight back in the match.
 
MESHREF stated after her victory “It was not an easy match and this cannot be judged by the result. The first two games were very tough and I knew that if I could win the first two games my confidence will grow and I have the opportunity to win the match.”
 
“It was good winning at same venue I lost to her last year but most importantly qualifying for the ITTF Women’s World Cup a tournament which is very special to me.”
 
The 2017 ITTF-African Cup staged in Agadir Morocco from 1-3 July is the continental qualification for the prestigious ITTF Men’s & Women’s World Cups to be held later in the year:
Liebherr 2017 ITTF Men’s World Cup – 20-22 Oct 2017 Liege (BEL)
Uncle Pop 2017 ITTF Women’s World Cup – 27-29 Oct 2017 Markham (CAN)
 
The ITTF World Cups are the second most prestigious events on the international table tennis calendar with only 20 of the top table tennis players qualifying through their respective Continental Cups together with the current World Champions one host player and a wildcard.
 
The next continental qualification for the ITTF World Cups will be the ITTF-Pan American Cup in San Jose (CRC) from 28-30 July 2017.

Qualified Players:

  • World Champions: MA Long (CHN) DING Ning (CHN)
  • 2017 ITTF-Europe Top 16 Cup: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) Alexander SHIBAEV (RUS) Simon GAUZY (FRA) LI Jie (NED) Petrissa SOLJA (GER) Sabine WINTER (GER)
  • 2017 ITTF-Oceania Cup: David POWELL (AUS) LAY Jian Fang (AUS)

Related News

Germany Ends Czechia’s Reign, Sets Up Under 15 Girls Final Against France

Top seeds in the Under 15 Girls Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava, Germany will face France in tomorrow’s final. Czechia and Italy were eliminated in the penultimate...

Read more

Portugal and Romania to Battle for Under 19 Boys Crown in Ostrava Final

The final of the Under 19 Boys Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava will feature a clash between Portugal and Romania tomorrow. Bronze medals go to Hungary and...

Read more

Italy and Türkiye to Clash for Under 15 Boys Title in Ostrava Final

In the match for the title in the Under 15 Boys Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava tomorrow, Italy will face Türkiye. In the semifinals, Germany and Poland...

Read more

France to Face Ukraine in Under 19 Girls Final

In the final of the Under 19 Girls Team Event tomorrow at the European Youth Championships, France will meet Ukraine. After today’s semifinal clashes, Portugal and Spain clinched bronze medals....

Read more

Contact

About Us

Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe, and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level, including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations, and the organization of continental table tennis competitions, including the European Championships.

Powered By

All Competitions

Senior Competitions

Club Competitions

Youth Competitions

More Competitions