Dina Meshref and Omar Assar display their silverware after winning the ITTF Africa Cup Top 16 honours in Nairobi ©Getty Images

Egypt swept the honours at the International Table Tennis Federation Africa Top 16 Cup in Nairobi as Omar Assar won the men’s title and the women’s competition was won by Dina Meshref.

Assar had to dig deep, however, to beat Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna 4-3 in the final.

Meshref, the defending champion, was at her best against Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou as she won 4-1.

The final between Assar and Quadri proved was a good advertisement for Africa as both players impressed with precise shots that received loud applause from the fans at the Kasarani Hall in the Moi International Sports Centre.

Nigeria's Quadri Aruna came from 1-3 down to draw level in the men's final in the ITTF Africa Cup Top 16 in Nairobi but eventually lost 4-3 to Egypt's Omar Assar ©ITTF
Nigeria's Quadri Aruna came from 1-3 down to draw level in the men's final in the ITTF Africa Cup Top 16 in Nairobi but eventually lost 4-3 to Egypt's Omar Assar ©ITTF

Quadri came back from 3-1 down to draw level at three games all, but he could not resist Assar in the seventh and final game.

Assar and Meshref have now both qualified to represent their continent at this year’s ITTF World Cup, due to take place at Disneyland in Paris between October 19 and 21. 

"I am happy that my dream of making it to the ITTF World Cup has become a reality because the tournament is special to me," Meshref said. 

Nigeria’s Edem Offiong and Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh claimed bronze medals after beating Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi and Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu respectively in the third place matches.