Host nation's HAN Xing and Egypt's El-Sayed LASHIN have won the respective Women's and Men's Singles titles at the ITTF-African Cup in Oyo, Congo Brazzaville.
Number one seed Han XING failed to win the African Cup in previous 4 attempts, but was not going to let this golden opportunity to be on top of the podium in front of her home crowd slip by. The 23 year old comprehensively beat Farah ABDEL-AZIZ (EGY) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 to make up for past missed opportunities.
"I am happy to win the cup after 4 years of trying," stated HAN. "The final match was quite easy for me but the most important match was against Offiong EDEM (NGR) in the semi-finals, as she beat me in the 2011 African Cup, but I am a much better player now. It is a dream come true to win here in Congo".
Egypt's El-Sayed LASHIN went into the men's event as the red hot favourite, after being a vital part of the Egyptian team that won the historic bronze medal at the 2013 ITTF World Team Classic. Not even an energy sapping trip from the Mediterranean Games held in Turkey to Congo stopped the 33 year old coming from behind to claim victory against countryman Ahmed SALEH (EGY) in a classic match 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4.
A relieved LASHIN said after his hard fought victory: "I am very happy to win this Cup after a very tough trip coming from the Mediterranean Games to Congo. Also, the political situation in Egypt is very draining and it was very hard to concentrate on training and competition."
In addition to becoming the African Cup Champions, both HAN and LASHIN get the honour of being African's representatives at 2013 ITTF Women's World Cup and 2013 ITTF Men's World Cup respectively.
The STARTS 2013 ITTF Women's World Cup will be held in Kobe, Japan, from 21 to 23 September 2013. The LIEBHERR 2013 ITTF Men's World Cup will take place in Verviers, Belgium, from 25 to 27 October 2013.
Dina MESHREF (EGY) capped off a good event for Egypt by winning bronze in the women's event. Quadri ARUNA (NGR) clinched Nigeria's only medal claiming the men's bronze medal n the men's.
Results from the 2013 ITTF-African Cup:
Men's Singles
Gold: El-Sayed LASHIN (EGY)
Silver: Ahmed SALEH (EGY)
Bronze: Quadri ARUNA (NGR)
Women's Singles
Gold: HAN Xing (CGO)
Silver: Farah ABDEL-AZIZ (EGY)
Bronze: Dina MESHREF (EGY)
For more information, please contact ITTF's Promotion
Manager Matt Pound at media@ittf.com.
About International Table Tennis Federation
The International Table Tennis Federation is responsible for the global sport of table tennis and has 218 affiliated National Associations. Table Tennis is an Olympic Sport, introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics Games. Table Tennis is also a Paralympic Sport.
Find out more about the International Table Tennis Federation at ITTF.com.
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