Four Egyptian table tennis players, including two brothers, have secured their spots at the singles division in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Along with Africa’s highest ranking table tennis women, Dina Meshref and Nadeen El Dowlately, Omar Assar and his younger brother, Khaled Assar, will be fighting for glory in Rio.
All qualified for the Olympics by dominating the eleventh African Games that were held in Congo last September. Omar Assar and Dina Meshref won gold in the men’s and women’s tournament, respectively. Nadeen El Dowlately lost to Meshref in the women’s final, taking home the silver medal, while Khaled Assar won bronze.
The Assar brothers will be the first siblings to ever represent Egypt in the same Olympic event.
Rio 2016 will be Khaled Assar’s first Olympic participation and his brother’s second. Omar Assar took part in the men’s singles and team competitions at the 2012 London Olympics.
Omar Assar, currently ranked as the second best African table tennis male player, is the only Arab among the world’s top 130 table tennis players. Since July 2012, he has successfully advanced from 209th place in the Men’s International World Ranking and reached 39th place this June.
He made his international debut at the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships and since then, he has earned several titles at the All-Africa Games, African Championships, Mediterranean Games and Pan Arab Games, winning more gold medals than silver and bronze combined.
According to El Watan News , Omar Assar has refused Qatar’s offer to naturalize him despite being given the choice to demand any price. He said that regardless of Egypt’s weak financial support, he would not represent any other country.
Khaled Assar has been following his brother’s example and proving himself as a player to watch out for. He is currently ranked the eighth best male table tennis player in Africa. The younger Assar brother recently won the men’s singles event at the World Tour Nigeria Open, beating Finland’s Benedek Olah in the final.
Egypt’s Assar brothers have also competed as partners. The duo won gold at the 2009 Doha Junior Open and bronze at the 2015 African Games in the men’s doubles competitions.
Despite never having won any Olympic medal for the table tennis event, Egypt has a notable Olympic tally, with a total of seven gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals. The nation has found the most success in the weightlifting and wrestling events. In addition, it has won more than 160 Paralympic medals.