By Daily Sports Nigeria on February 9, 2026

Nigeria’s table tennis star Quadri Aruna has two more hurdles to cross in his bid to reclaim the ITTF Africa Cup, as he steps out for the last four against Algeria’s Medhdi Bouloussa and a potential final against either reigning champion Omar Assar of Egypt or Algeria’s Stephane Ouaiche, in Benghazi, Libya on Monday (today), The PUNCH reports.

The five-time champion advanced into the semi-finals on Sunday, following a comprehensive 4-0 quarter-final win over Egypt’s Badr Mostafa. Aruna was in control from the first game, beating the Egyptian 11-5, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9. Before then, he had also beaten Libya’s Habeb Alajaebi 4-0 in the round of 16. Alajaebi was no match for him, falling 11-3, 11-4, 11-3, 11-1.

After strolling into the semis, Aruna will have bigger tests today, as he takes on Bouloussa in the semi-final for a place against either Assar or Ouaiche in the final. Aruna is the only West African in the North Africa-dominated last four line-up.

To book a spot against Aruna, Bouloussa edged another Egyptian, Youssef Abdelaziz, in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Aruna also remains Nigeria’s only player in the tournament following the elimination of his compatriots Olajide Omotayo and Fatima Bello on Sunday.

Olajide was beaten 4-0 by Ouaiche in the round of 16, losing 11-6, 11-2, 11-4, 11-8. Before bowing out, Olajide managed a 3-0 (11-1, 11-6, 11-3) win over Libya’s HAMRANAH Alhusayn in a group match on Friday.

In the women’s singles, Bello competed in the quarter-finals against Egypt’s Mariam Alhodaby, losing the game 4-1. Alhodaby won the first two games 11-2, 11-9 before Bello mounted the pressure to win the third 11-5.

She however, succumbed 11-4, 11-1 in the last two sets, marking the end of the journey for the Nigerian. She had won a game in the group phase on the opening day of the tournament on Friday, while her counterpart, Ajoke Ojomu, lost two group games and failed to make it out of the group.

The annual continental championship, which also serves as a qualifier for the 2026 ITTF World Cup, is organised by the African Table Tennis Federation in collaboration with the International Table Tennis Federation, and hosted by the Libyan Table Tennis Federation at the iconic Al Nasr Sports Club in Benghazi.

Aruna’s greatest threat is Assar, the men’s No. 1 seed, who entered the tournament as the most successful player in Africa Cup men’s singles history, with six titles to his name — Yaoundé 2015, Nairobi 2018, Lagos 2019, Lagos 2022, Nairobi 2023 and Tunis 2025.

For Aruna, he has won the titles in 2024 (Kigali), 2017 (Agadir), 2016 (Khartoum), 2014 (Lagos) and 2009 (Rabat).

Source Punch Ng

Posted February 9, 2026

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