A highly competitive tournament, a fact of which Omar Assar, who emerged victorious at the 2018 ITTF Africa Top 16 tournament and won last year in Lagos at the 2019 ITTF-Africa Cup, in well aware.

“The ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup is a special event because it has only the current top players in Africa and they compete together to qualify for the ITTF World Cup! It is a tough challenge for me because all the players are in a good form.

I agree that there is a clear improvement in the level of the African players however I believe more can be done by managing the players in the professional way.

I am practising in preparation for the tournament as I need to be in a good form mentally and physically because the matches will be tough from the start.

The tournament has always seen surprises, players unexpectedly reaching the semi-finals by performing very well. Ibrahima Diaw of Senegal is very good.

Tunisia has a long history of table tennis that makes playing there always very special beside that I love the City of Tunis as I have won several titles in my career there at junior level. I am looking forward for the Tunisian fans.” Omar Assar