International Friendship Day 2023: Omar Assar and Quadri Aruna, the friends "like Federer and Nadal" driving African table tennis to the next level
Assar embraced Aruna on court at the 2023 World Championships after following in his friend's footsteps as the second African quarter-finalist. He tells Olympics.com all about their friendship and what it means to African table tennis.
Table Tennis
Ask anyone who knows about men's table tennis in Africa and two names will come to the fore: Quadri Aruna of Nigeria and Omar Assar of Egypt.
The pair happen to be the current top two African men's singles players, and also the only men from the continent to have reached the quarter-finals at the World Championships (and, for that matter, at the Olympic Games tournament).
Assar achieved the feat earlier this year at the 2023 World Championships in Durban, South Africa, by defeating Croatia's Tomislav Pucar in the last 16. Upon winning that match, Assar fell to his knees before inviting Aruna – who had been cheering him on in the crowd – onto court in a touching moment of friendship.
"I heard him during the match," Assar explained to Olympics.com in a recent exclusive interview. "While I was celebrating, I saw him in the tribunes. It was not planned at all.
"I invited him to the court and I wanted to share with him a moment, and I'm very happy that it worked out because it's something going to last in our memories for a long time. I wanted to say to him, 'Hey brother, you made it first, and I followed.'"
Omar Assar and Quadri Aruna: A "brotherhood" and rivalry "like Federer and Nadal" dating back to 2008
Assar has known Aruna since 2008, when they first met playing in the African youth championships in Morocco.
"Before that, I hadn't seen Quadri on any occasion, even in Nigeria," Assar recalled. "I saw a guy who was very strong and very determined and a very big fighter. I was saying, wow, who is this guy? He was always in finals and we've shared this moment since 2008."
They have now played each other 21 times at the international level, with the Egyptian holding a 12–9 career head-to-head record over his friend and rival. The pair have met in the final of the top continental tournaments, the Africa Cup and African Championships, multiple times.
"It's a brotherhood relationship," Assar said. "I always dreamed that people in the world followed the African matches. It was exciting to see this rivalry, something like between (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal that they were sharing the final so long.
"We are quite the same that we are sharing the final for the last 12 years already. We have played more than 80 percent of the African finals on the last 12 years in different occasions. And people were always waiting for this classic match most of the time: it's like 4–3 and 12–10 in the last set. So I'm really enjoying it."
Aruna and Assar's good off-court ties
Assar was speaking to Olympics.com on his 32nd birthday, and shared that Aruna had been one of the first to text him the night before to wish him a happy birthday.
"Quadri is a very good friend of mine. He is an amazing human being," the Egyptian stated. "I really like him and I admire him, have huge respect for him and for his career. He has been through many challenges in his life and he really managed it very well."
The friendship continues off-court, with Aruna and his family spending time with Assar's family in Germany and vice-versa in Portugal, where each of the men is mostly based these days for club commitments.
"I would invite him to my home in Germany and he would invite me in Portugal when I go there; I really enjoy this and (also) the opposite: When we are at the table, we really want to hunt each other (on court)."
And when both are on tour, they also spend time together. "We have some common rituals together," Assar confirmed. "We have been playing in a world-class level for now, maybe 10, 15 years in different competitions.
"So when I would arrive maybe to China or to any other destination, the first one that I would ask for (as a) practice partner would be Quadri. So I would (text) him, hey, brother, are you already there? Shall we go for training? This would be the first message and we try to make it possible.
"And we have shared many trainings all over the world and we would take some videos and some pictures in these countries, which is also very nice for our memories later."
The future of African table tennis with Aruna and Assar at the top
Aruna was the first African man to crack the top 10 of the world rankings, and both he and Assar are currently in the top 25.
Assar said of his friend: "He is definitely one of the best African players of all time. I mean, this is no question. I have very big respect for him and we are sharing it, cheering each other. It's very (much a) blessing to have him for Africa. It's very important."
After their achievements at the Olympic and world level, is the next level of African men ready to crack the top of world table tennis? It may take some work, but the continent will get there, Assar believes.
"I think it's not the end. I think we have one more push to do and one more push to go, both," he said. "Especially Quadri and me, we are trying to choose our tournaments very wisely to gain as many (ranking) points as possible and try to coordinate also with our national team commitments.
"We have African Championships, we have Olympic Games, we have World Championships. How can we go there with best performance together with the (WTT) tournaments as well? This is actually a big challenge; it's gonna take time to get into this rhythm because it's quite new (for us).
"But on the other hand, I think Quadri and I are doing very well. So far, we have been very, very successful in the last two years. I mean, Quadri has beaten recently top-10 players, I have been also played an amazing match against Harimoto (Tomokazu).
"I think it's a very good sign we are capable of (beating) top-four players. There is a big chance that we can crack into the top 10 for more African players. Definitely."