Egypt has kicked off their campaign at the 2023 African Games with a commanding performance in table tennis, sweeping both the men’s and women’s singles titles.
The country has consistently dominated the sport in recent years, and their success continued at the Accra International Conference Centre on Tuesday.
In the women’s final, 16-year-old Hana Goda of Egypt defeated Africa’s number one player, Dina Meshref, also from Egypt, in an exhilarating match.
🏓Excitement for Hana Goda 🇪🇬 who currently leads by two sets to nil in the Women's Singles final #3SportsGH #Accra2023 pic.twitter.com/Ke7l5kWhWG
— #3Sports (@3SportsGh) March 5, 2024
Goda secured the gold medal with a 4-2 victory, while Meshref settled for silver. Nigeria’s Edem Offiong and Mobarek Lucie of Algeria took home the bronze medals.
In the men’s division, Egypt’s Mohamed Assar Omar emerged victorious, beating Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna 4-3 in a thrilling encounter.
Another win for Egypt!
Omar Assar beats Aruna Qadri 🇳🇬 to clinch gold in the men's singles table tennis #3SportsGH #Accra2023 pic.twitter.com/G8DklpQanU
— #3Sports (@3SportsGh) March 5, 2024
This was a repeat of the 2015 final, and Assar claimed another win. Despite falling behind 3-2, he staged a remarkable comeback to take the gold. The bronze medals went to Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw and Mohamed El Beiali of Egypt.
Unfortunately, the athletes were not able to receive their medals on the night as planned, due to a delay in the production of the medals. As a result, the ceremony that was supposed to take place did not happen.
The games continue, with several events still to come, but Egypt currently leads the medal table with four medals, followed by Nigeria with two. Algeria and Senegal have each won one medal.
Early days. A look at the 13th African Games Medal Table 🥇#3SportsGH #Accra2023 pic.twitter.com/l09FW2JUN4
— #3Sports (@3SportsGh) March 5, 2024
Host nation Ghana has yet to secure a medal, with all their representatives in table tennis failing to progress beyond the initial rounds.
While Ghana won a total of 13 medals in 2019, their poor start to the tournament means they may struggle to surpass that total.
The opening ceremony of the 2023 African Games is scheduled for Friday, March 8, 2024, at the University of Ghana Stadium in Legon.
It remains to be seen if Ghana can turn their fortunes around and make a stronger impact in the rest of the games.