The Egyptian pair of Youssef Abdelaziz and Mohamed El-Beiali has etched their names into the history books by becoming the first African duo to reach the quarterfinals of the Men’s Doubles at the 2025 ITTF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Starting unseeded, the pair launched their campaign with a dramatic comeback victory in the opening round, overturning a 0-2 deficit to defeat their Turkish opponents 3-2. Their momentum only grew stronger in the second round, where they stunned the tournament’s 7th seeds, South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon and An Jaehyun, with a commanding 3-0 win.
On Tuesday, May 20, Abdelaziz and El-Beiali continued their remarkable run by sweeping past Yang Wang of Slovakia and Konstantinos Angelakis of Greece in another dominant 3-0 performance, securing their place in the last eight — a first for any African pair in this event.
They now face their toughest challenge yet: a quarterfinal clash against the tournament’s No. 2 seeds, Japan’s Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami, with hopes of setting a new African benchmark.
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda showed resilience but bowed out in the third round after a 4-0 loss to World No. 2 Wang Yidi of China — an improvement on her second-round finish in 2023.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna remains Africa’s last hope in the singles events. He is set to compete in the third round on Thursday, May 22, at Lusail Arena in Doha.
