by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Undoubtedly, Egypt presents the strongest challenge but the Tunisian teenager is more than ready for the fray.

He spoke to Olalekan Okusan, the ITTF-Africa Press Officer

I am preparing for the Championships with the support of my coach, Lucian Filimon, at the training centre in Boulogne Billancourt and with the support of the Tunisian Table Tennis Federation.

Our last match against Egypt was in the semi-final of the Arab Championship which we lost three-two but we were so close to beating them; this performance has given us confidence. We will surely try harder to beat them to the top prize in the competition.

Honestly, I don’t know what will happen in the competition because in such African Championships everyone will try hard to win more titles for their country. So we should expect anything to happen in the Championships.

It’s an advantage for all Tunisian players to play in front of the home fans and this can give us an edge over most of our adversaries. I don’t have personal target in the competition but I will do my best to win the titles for my country.

My parents are always supporting me and they are always on my side. It is because of their sacrifices that I am in France to pursue my passion as well as continue with my studies. I am very grateful to them for the sacrifice they are making for me and for me having such awesome experience.

 I think Tunisia can compete very well against African heavyweights like Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria in the Junior Boys category. I believe we have a huge chance to fight for the title against these top teams.