Nigeria and Egypt are set to clash in the team event finals of table tennis at the 13th African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana.
In the men’s event, Quadri Aruna guided the Nigerian side to the final after spearheading a hard-fought 3-1 win over Tunisia in the semifinal round to set up another epic final against the Egyptian side.
Defending Champions, Egypt were not threatened until the semifinal round where they were tested by the Mehdi Boloussa-inspired Algerian side but it was the Egyptian that prevailed 3-0 to qualify for the final at the Accra International Conference Centre on Friday.
The two seeds in the team event lived to expectations from the group matches to the knockout rounds, pummeling most of their opponents on their way to the finals.
Reacting to the victory, Head Coach of Nigeria Table Tennis Team, Segun Toriola told www.aclsports.com that the team will give Egypt a good fight.
Toriola said, “The final is going to be a tough one but I believe Nigeria will give the Egyptians a good fight.
“I was scared during the semifinals matches because Quadri Aruna muscles were tired due to excessive matches in the last two days. If you noticed, he did not want to force so many movements during the semifinals encounter.”
For the women’s event, Nigeria had a smooth ride to the final with a convincing 3-0 win over South Africa in the semifinal while Egyptian ladies like their male counterparts had a jolly passage to the final where they will face Offiong Edem-led Nigerian side.
