by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF Africa, Press Officer

At the end of the first half of the season, Werder Bremen occupies second place in the league table with seven wins and three losses; the leaders and defending champions, Borussia Düsseldorf have recorded nine wins and one loss after completing 10 fixtures.

Since moving to Germany from France, Omar Assar’s fortunes at global level have changed positively; the Egyptian has set a new record for Africa on the Men’s World Rankings. On the recently published list he occupies the no.16 spot; the highest ever for the continent.

Also, with Werder Bremen, things are really looking up for Omar Assar. They are set to meet defending champions, Borussia Dusseldorf, who select from Timo Boll, Kristian Karlsson, Stefan Fegerl and Anton Källberg in the semi-final of the German Cup.

Having beaten Rhön Sprudel Fulda-Maberzell, represented by Ruwen Filus, Wang Xi and Jonathan Groth by three matches to one; a three-nil success was posted in the round of the last 16 against the Bad Köningshofen trio of Kilian Ort, Darko Jorgic and Filip Zeljko.

Quarter-finalists last year, when losing to TV Hilpoltstein, a second division club, there is an air of confident in the Werder Bremen camp..

Omar Assar explained:

“I am so excited that we have been able to make it to the semi-final stage having played the 2016 runners up in the last 16 and also facing a tough team in the quarter-finals. It shows that we are focused on doing well this season and we deserve to be in the semi-final.

I think we are ready for any team having fought hard to reach the last four. We are a very ambitious side and we can do it against Düsseldorf. We hope to give a good performance against them. I will be so happy personally to be part of history with Werder Bremen this season.

Having played in Sweden and France, I discovered that in Germany, it is tougher and you have to be at your best. In Sweden and France, it was a bit more relaxed but in the Bundesliga, you have to give your best and every team is working hard to be the best.

It means you have to work hard in training. I knew before joining Werder Bremen that it is an ambitious team and 2013 Bundesliga champions. They are determined to repeat the feat in the league this year and I am happy that I joined a team with a big ambition; this for me has really helped the team. The staff and coaching crew of the team have been very helpful and I am hopeful that we can still do more in the league.

The difference this season is that we look at each match separately and give a 110 percent each time.”