Egyptian champion Hana Gouda received an official welcome on Sunday, following her return to her country from China, carrying with her an unprecedented historical achievement for Egyptian, African and Arab sports in table tennis.
Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Gawhar Nabil, and President of the Egyptian Table Tennis Federation, Major General Ashraf Helmy, welcomed player Hana Gouda, following her historic qualification to the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Table Tennis Championships held in China.
The Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports praised the exceptional performance of Hana Gouda, stressing that her reaching this advanced stage reflects a great development in the level of the game in Egypt and the ability of its champions to compete with top-ranked players and Olympic champions in the strongest international forums.
Egyptian Hana Gouda receives official welcome after her historic achievement in the World Table Tennis Championships
Nabil also stressed the state’s full support for the champions to achieve more global accomplishments.
Here, Joudah raised the bar for expectations after her thrilling 4-3 victory in the round of 16 against French player Jia Nan Yuan, ranked 24th in the world, becoming the first player from outside the Asian and European continents to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
In the quarter-finals, 18-year-old Hana Gouda played a historic match and narrowly lost 3-4 to Chinese world and Olympic champion Sun Yangsha, who is ranked number one in the world.
