Nigeria's Quadri Aruna is two wins away from earning the men's singles title at the ITTF Africa Cup for the second time in his career ©Getty Images

Top-ranked men’s singles player Quadri Aruna today reached the semi-finals of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Cup men’s singles being played in his home city of Lagos.

The Nigerian is now two wins away from earning his second Africa Cup victory after his success in 2017, but he faces a tough task in his next round as he meets Egypt’s 41-year-old defending champion Ahmed Saleh, who beat him in last year’s final.

Aruna, currently 14th in the ITTF world rankings, earned a 4-1 win over Abdelbassett Chaichi of Algeria in today’s round-of-16 match and then won his quarter-final against Tunisia’s Aboubaker Bourass 4-0.

The other men’s singles semi-final will be an all-Egyptian affair involving Omar Assar and Mohamed El-Beiali.

The women’s semi-finals mirror the men’s in that they feature three Egyptian players, with defending champion Mariam Alhodaby, who earned a 4-3 win in her quarter-final against Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou, meeting home player Fatima Bello, who made the last four with an emotional 4-3 win over compatriot Offiong Edem.

The other semi-final features Tokyo 2020 Olympian Dina Meshref of Egypt, who won the women’s title in 2013 and 2014, and her compatriot, 14-year-old Hana Goda, who reached the last four with a 4-0 victory over Nigeria’s double Olympian Olufunke Oshonaike - 32 years her senior.