By James Crook

July 4 - Host nation Congo and Egypt will be represented at the men's and women's International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Cup tournaments later this year thanks to wins from Han Xing in the women's event and El-Sayed Lashin in the men's at Oyo, Congo Brazzaville.

The number one seed Han eased past Egyptian Farah Abdel-Aziz 11-9, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 in the final to win the title for the first time in five attempts in front of her home crowd and book her place at the ITTF Women's World Cup in Kobe this September.

"I am happy to win the cup after four years of trying," said Han.

"The final match was quite easy for me but the most important match was against Offiong Edem in the semi-finals, as she beat me in the 2011 African Cup, but I am a much better player now.

"It is a dream come true to win here in Congo."

In the men's event, Lashin was taken right to the wire in the final by his opponent Ahmed Saleh, who is also from Egypt, in a thrilling match which ended 5-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4.

El-Sayed Lashin guaranteed his place at the World Cup this October with his win at the African Cup 

"I am very happy to win this Cup after a very tough trip coming from the Mediterranean Games to Congo," said the 33-year-old, who will now compete at the ITTF Men's World Cup in Belgium this October.

"Also, the political situation in Egypt is very draining and it was very hard to concentrate on training and competition."

Another Egyptian, Dina Meshref, took bronze in the women's event, whilst Quadri Aruna of Nigeria won bronze in the men's singles.

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