Egypt’s Youssef Abdelaziz and Mohamed El-Beiali have etched their names in the record books by becoming the first African pair to reach the quarterfinals of the Men’s Doubles event at the 2025 ITTF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Unseeded at the start of the tournament, the Egyptians launched their campaign with a dramatic comeback victory, rallying from two sets down to edge past their Turkish opponents 3–2 in the opening round.
Their momentum only grew stronger in the second round, where they faced the formidable South Korean pair of Lim Jonghoon and An Jaehyun, seeded seventh in the tournament. Undaunted by the challenge, Abdelaziz and El-Beiali delivered a stunning straight-sets win, 3–0, to advance to the round of 16.
The historic feat came in the third round, as they became the first African team to ever reach the quarterfinals of the Men’s Doubles at a World Championship. They achieved this milestone with another commanding 3–0 performance, this time against Slovakia’s Yang Wang and Greece’s Konstantinos Angelakis.
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Their next test is a formidable one: a quarterfinal clash against the tournament’s No. 2 seeds, Japan’s Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami. The Egyptians will be aiming to continue their fairytale run and set yet another benchmark for African table tennis.
Elsewhere, Egypt’s Hana Goda showed significant improvement from her 2023 outing by reaching the third round in the women’s singles. Her campaign, however, came to an end against China’s World No. 2 Wang Yidi, who claimed a 4–0 win.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna remains Africa’s last standing contender in the singles category. He is set to continue his quest for glory on Thursday, 22nd May, at the Lusail Arena in Doha.
