Egypt is to Africa as China is to the world. To explain: China has dominated international table tennis for sixty years. When China's Zhuang Zedong was winning every men's singles title at the World Championships (1961-1965), the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) introduced the African Table tennis Championships. Egypt won five of the first six women's and men's team titles (1962-1968). When the championships resumed in 1974, Egypt's only true continental rivals, Nigeria, stated their case. Egypt won an amazing 15 out of 16 team titles over the next twenty years. Since then, Egypt has won 21 of the 26 team titles. In sum, Egypt has won 27 of the 48 team titles at the African Table tennis Championships since 1962. This dominance continued this week in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where Egypt claimed six of the seven titles on offer at the 2021 ITTF African Championships. After padding their historic hegemony in the teams events, winning both team titles over Nigeria, matters concluded today in the singles championships. The women's singles title was guaranteed to be included in Egyptian luggage at the semifinal stage. Of the four Egyptian women left standing, it was 21-year-old Mariam Alhodaby and 13-year-old phenom Hana Goda who reached the championship round. While Goda commanded the most attention with marquee wins over Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike and her own countrywoman Dina Meshref, it was Alhodaby who showed the requisite mettle. After Goda claimed a 3-1 lead, Alhodaby strung together three straight games for the championship. Meanwhile, over in the men's draw, it was a rematch from the men's team's final. At that stage, defending African men's singles champion Quadri Aruna won the only two matches for Nigeria, including one over Egyptian captain Omar Assar. In the men's singles final, Assar exacted sweet revenge in five games to claim the men's singles title, his third overall. At the end of the day, Egypt proved once again to be the dominant force on the African continent, winning all but one title on offer. Similarly, China underscored its global dominance at this summer's Olympics, winning all but one gold medal on offer. While no comparison is perfect, the need for such extremes of analogy underscores the respective dominances of Egypt and China.

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