The quest for Africa to play in the championship division in 2018 started on a bright note when Nigeria recorded victory in the first round matches at the ongoing ITTF World Team Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
It was Nigeria who paved the way for Egypt when earlier in the day they rattled Turkey with an emphatic 3-0 win, with veteran Segun Toriola joining forces with Quadri Aruna and Bode Abiodun.
Later in the day, Egypt showed their class against Mexico when Omar Assar, Mohammed El-Beiali and El-Sayed Lashin whitewashed their Mexican counterparts with a 3-0 bashing.
The Egyptian ladies made it a double header for the North African as they also pummelled Switzerland 3-0 to put their ambition of gaining promotion to the elite division on track.
Speaking after the victory against Turkey, Bode Abiodun said: “I was a bit nervous when I started the game having flown for hours from Portugal. But as the game progressed I got my rhythm to win convincingly against the Turkish. We are a strong side and I believe in my teammates that we can gain promotion to the Championship division.
“We are not bothered about the pedigree of our opponents and we are not going to play to the gallery against any team because every team in the group are very strong.”
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