Over eight days, about 17 African countries locked horns in exciting ping pong duels at the Ethiopian Sports Academy in the 2024 ITTF Africa Championships, which climaxed on Saturday, October 19 in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
One highlight of the continental showpiece was the return of the host to the podium after 24 years.
The championships also witnessed the continued dominance of Egypt in the continent as the North Africans won five of the seven events they competed in at the competition.
Dufera Mokonen was the star boy for Ethiopia as the defensive player single-handedly inspired the home team to claim two bronze medals, a feat that was last achieved at Addis Ababa in 2000.
Mokonen disrupted the pecking order in the Men’s Singles when for the first in the history of the event, a player outside Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria made it to the semifinal after his 4-2 upset against No. 3 Mohamed El-Beiali of Egypt.
The doubles event was dominated by Nigeria and Egypt with Muiz Adegoke and Abdulbasat Abdulfatai defeating their Nigerian compatriots, Olajide Omotayo and Matthew Kuti,3-1 to claim the gold medal while Egypt’s Hana Goda and Fathy Hend beat Algeria’s Malissa Nasri and Yassamine Bouhenni 3-0 to rule the women’s doubles.
The mixed doubles event was won by Youssef Abdel-Aziz and Mariam Alhodaby of Egypt who triumphed over Algeria’s Amina Kessaci and Milhane Jellouli with a convincing 3-0 win.
Nigeria claimed their first Men’s team title after beating Algeria 3-1 while Egypt retained their Women’s team title after beating Nigeria 3-0 in the final.
Teenage sensation Hana Goda retained her women’s singles title with a hard-fought 4-3 win over her fellow Egyptian, Mariam Alhodaby.
Omar Assar of Egypt claimed his 12th continental title after beating compatriot Abdel-Aziz 4-2 to emerge as the 2024 Men’s Singles champion.
