by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Most certainly Omar Assar, listed at no.58 on the current Men’s World Rankings, is highly motivated and he has a special liking for Agadir.

It was in the city that he completed a successful defence of his Men’s Singles at the 2016 ITTF African Championships; he first won on home soil in Cairo in 2015.

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

Morocco is a very special country for me because I have golden memories there. I have been lucky to win there but I am still very hungry to win and perform very well in Morocco this year.

Of course I feel the tournament will be tougher this year because of the experience of most African players who are now playing professionally in Europe. Most of them are also very active on the ITTF World Tour and this makes the competition very interesting and exciting this year.

The ITTF Africa Cup is a very special competition for me as I have already won on one occasion; for sure I would love to add it to my collection so I am trying to be 100 per cent for the tournament in Morocco this year

Quadri Aruna is the highest ranked player in Africa currently. He has given good performances in the French League and on the ITTF World in Hungary; this surely makes him a major threat to all Egyptian players in Morocco. Also I must admit that my teammates in Egypt too are playing well lately.

I competed in the China Open this year because I hope that it will be a good preparation for the ITTF Africa Cup particularly to play in such a high level tournament in China. I am indeed looking forward to an outstanding performance in Morocco.