Aruna, Goda set to kick off campaign at 2025 ITTF World Champs

Africa’s top-ranked table tennis stars, Quadri Aruna of Nigeria and Hana Goda of Egypt, will begin their quest for global glory on Saturday, May 17, as the 2025 ITTF World Championships get underway in Doha, Qatar.

Running from May 17 to 25, the prestigious tournament will bring together the world’s elite players at the state-of-the-art Lusail Multipurpose Hall and Qatar University Sports Complex. Athletes will compete across five major events: Men’s and Women’s Singles, Men’s and Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.

This year’s edition marks a symbolic return to Doha, 21 years after the Qatari capital became the first Middle Eastern city to host the World Championships in 2004.

Aruna, the first African to reach the quarterfinals of the World Championships, will open his campaign in the Men’s Singles against Brazil’s Victor Ishiy—a familiar opponent he defeated 4-2 at the 2021 edition in Houston, USA. The Nigerian star will be aiming to repeat that performance in Doha.

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Other African representatives in the Men’s Singles include Darara Dufera (Ethiopia) vs Oh Junsung (South Korea); Aly Ghallab (Egypt) vs Eduard Ionescu (Romania); Fabio Rakotoarimanana (Madagascar) vs Darko Jorgic (Slovenia); Kokou Fanny (Togo) vs Alexis Lebrun (France); Wassim Essed (Tunisia) vs Juan Perez (Spain), and Mohamed El-Beiali (Egypt) vs Anton Kallberg (Sweden)

In the Women’s Singles, African champion Hana Goda will face Australia’s Jiamuwa Wu in the first round. Other key matchups include Yousra Helmy (Egypt) vs Jocelyn Lam (New Zealand); Hope Udoaka (Nigeria) vs Giulia Takahashi (Brazil); Rochica Sonday (South Africa) vs Chen Xingtong (China); Mariam Alhodaby (Egypt) vs Sabine Winter (Germany), and Danisha Patel (South Africa) vs Andrea Todorovic (Croatia)

The Mixed Doubles event will also feature strong African representation with Olajide Omotayo & Kabirat Ayoola (Nigeria) vs Mahmoud Helmy & Hend Fathy (Egypt); Fabio Rakotoarimanana & Hanitra Raharimanana (Madagascar) vs Hugo Calderano & Bruna Takahashi (Brazil); Matthew Kuti & Ajoke Ojomu (Nigeria) vs Sora Matsushima & Miwa Harimoto (Japan), and Milhane Jellouli & Amina Kessaci (Algeria) vs Ahmed Korani & Maryam Ali (Qatar).

With top talents from across Africa—including Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Madagascar, and Togo—set to compete, the 2025 ITTF World Championships promises to be a thrilling showcase of skill, resilience, and continental pride.

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