Assar becomes highest ranking table tennis player in African history

CAIRO – 7 October 2017: Omar Assar jumped 10 places in the table tennis rankings released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Thursday.

Assar, who was crowned African Champion in October, has set a new African record after jumping to 21st place with 2,528 points in the latest monthly ranking by ITTF.

The 26-year-old has earned a deserved progress following his brilliant performances in the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum Austrian Open held in Linz, in which he reached the quarter-finals.

Assar started his campaign with a seven-game match against Germany’s Patrick Baum in the preliminary round, before topping group 6 in the group stages with victories over Slovenia’s Deni Kozul and Sweden’s Elias Ranefur.

In the round of 16, Assar beat Kristian Karlsson of Sweden 4-2 .The Egyptian champion then lost 4-1 in the quarter-final to China’s Yan An, who was later defeated in the final by his fellow countryman Lin Gaoyuan.