ITTF Africa Youth, Junior and Cadet Championship; Egypt, Nigeria vie for gold

Nigeria and Egypt continue to dominate the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Youth, Junior and Cadet Championship as they compete for gold today in the final of the boys’ Junior and girls’ Junior (Under-18) events at the Trust Sports Emporium in Accra.

Nigeria (U-18) girls’ team beat their Mauritius counterparts 3-2, while fellow powerhouse Egypt defeated sub-regional rivals Tunisia 3-0 in the other semi-final encounter to set up a final clash between the division’s strongest teams, Nigeria and Egypt.

In the boys’ U-18 semi-finals, Egypt overpowered Tunisia by 3-1, while Nigeria defeated Togo 3-0. Again, Egypt and Nigeria will meet in the final of this division.

Ghana's girls’ Junior (U-18) could only settle for the fifth position in the team event after beating Algeria 3-1 yesterday.

 The Algerian team, comprising Merzoug Cheima, Melissa Belache and Narimene-Hind Siddeki, got mesmerised by the Ghanaian duo Judith Acheampong and Augustina Baidoo, who displayed superior serves throughout the match.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Under -18 boys’ team defeated their Ghanaian counterparts 3-1 in a consolation match to determine the seventh placed team.

In the match, Ghana’s Augustine Baidoo started well and defeated his opponent Christian Mbongia in the first set to give the hosts the lead, but Baidoo's compatriots -- Benjamin Ofori and Desmond Osei -- faltered in the subsequent matches as they lost to Noredi Bongo and Exavcee Ngefuassa respectively.

Also, Ghana's cadet (Under-15) boys team comprising Solomon Danso, Godwin Aseku and Daniel Godsword Tawiah could not hold on to a 2-0 early lead against Mauritius pair of Ryan Desscann and Zayyan Hossein as they allowed their opponents to overturn the score to win the match 3-2. The victory put Mauritius in fifth place in the Cadet boys’ team event.