30th December, 2014
Veteran Egyptian table tennis star, El-Sayed Lashin has said that Nigeria and Congo Brazzaville will be threats to Egypt’s title ambition at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championships holding next month in Cairo.
Lashin, who will be leading the Egyptian team to the ITTF World Team Cup holding in Dubai on 6-9 January, also admitted that retaining the men’s single title would be a hard for him with the quality of Nigerian players led by Africa’s rave of the moment, Aruna Quadri.
Aside Nigeria, Lashin Congo Brazzaville, which recently naturalised two Chinese players, would be a team to beat.
“We know that table tennis in Africa is on the rise at present and in every competition, it is always very hard for any country to dominate the tournament. It is always very tough against Nigeria and Congo Brazzaville,” he said.
He added: “As the host country, we will remain positive because it is going to be hard for us in front of our fans. We will surely have more players in the competition as the host and most especially in the singles events.”
He added that that he has to be at his best to hold on to the men’s singles title in Cairo come 23-29 January.
“I will surely give my best and I know it is not going to be easy at all. I need to fight to the end to ensure that nobody takes my title away from me. I need to hold on to the title and I have started working hard for this,” Lashin said.
He however tipped Quadri for the ITTF Star Awards, saying winning the award would surely give the continent a voice in global table tennis.