By Victor Kanayo
After hitting the quarter-final in two consecutive Olympics, Egyptian table tennis player Omar Assar missed the opportunity to reach the semi-final in Paris for the first time in his country and African history.
This was after he lost 4-1 (11-7, 6-11, 14-12, 14-12, and 11-2.)to Swedish player Truls Moregard in the quarter-final.
The 33-year-old lost the first set but managed to clinch the second.
He displayed resilience in the third and fourth sets, both of which ended with the same tight result of 14-12.
However, in the fifth set, he was unable to secure a win, dashing hopes of claiming an unprecedented medal in table tennis.
Assar began his Paris campaign with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Madagascar’s Fabio Rakotoarimanana before defeating Ecuador’s Alberto Mino with a 4-0 scoreline.
In the quarterfinal, Assar faced competition’s surprise Moregard, who had previously eliminated the world number 1, WANG Chuqin of China, in the round of 32.
This marks a repeat performance for the Egyptian player, who was eliminated at the same stage during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Assar hit African record by being the first player to qualify for the Olympic quarterfinals twice in a row.
His archrival, Aruna Quadri of Nigeria crashed out of the first round in Paris Olympics, though he reached quarter-final during 2020 edition.
