Meet the man who put Egypt on the world table tennis map — Omar Assar

Clear-eyed focus: Assar says he tends to ‘erase the slate’ quickly after tournaments, so he can look ahead and concentrate on climbing up the ranks. | Photo credit: Getty Images

Globetrotting star: Assar’s success around the world — including at the UTT in India — has raised his global profile. | Photo credit: Special Arrangement

“Had I not been a table tennis player, I would have been a table tennis fan. I cannot imagine having done anything that was not associated with table tennis.”

The statement may come across as a glorification of his passion, but Omar Assar — the smiling assassin — says it as a matter of fact. After all, the first Egyptian to well and truly put his country on the world table tennis map has literally grown up with the game.

Desouk, a small city in north Egypt, can be equated with Siliguri. Just like the hilly town in north Bengal has table tennis in its genes, Desouk — despite the rest of Egypt being crazy about football — is a table tennis city.

No wonder then that Omar picked up a racquet when he was barely four years old, with younger brother Khalid joining him on the 9’x5’ table soon. The duo kept improving but Khalid hasn’t been able to match his big brother’s leap in the table tennis arena — or his reach on the table.

Addicted to table tennis

“It’s the No. 1 sport in the city, watched even more than soccer, which is unusual for Egypt. My father and uncle were addicted to the sport, my uncle was a professor for sport in the university. He came back to Desouk after retirement and dedicated himself to us, which helped me and my brother as we got better conditions for training and playing matches. It was a lovely atmosphere around us,” Omar — in India to represent Puneri Paltan TT in the fourth edition of Ultimate Table Tennis — tells The Hindu in a candid chat.

“I have always enjoyed watching and playing table tennis. In good and bad times. It was always the No. 1 thing in my life. I never had anything else to choose from. Table tennis was something meant for me. I never dreamt of being a successful engineer or doctor. I always wanted to be a table tennis player, which was unusual because you never know what the future looks like. Especially in Egypt, where it was not a very well-followed sport.”

Over the last decade and a half, Omar — who turned 32 last week — has not only emerged as the best Egyptian to ever play the game but has also stamped his authority as the most successful Arabic paddler and has joined Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna as Africa’s finest.

After becoming the second African to reach the Olympic singles quarterfinals in Tokyo two years ago, taking a set off gold medallist Ma Long in the process, Omar followed Quadri into the history books again at the World Championships earlier this year when he made the last eight.

As intimidating as he appears on the table, Omar — the 6’4” unit — is a soft-spoken individual.

In addition to his upbringing in a table tennis-loving family in a table tennis-crazy city, Omar credits the early exposure to the European circuit for his rise. At 14, he was awarded an ITTF scholarship and started training in short stints in Falkenberg, Sweden.

Sweden — for a long time — was the only country to thwart Chinese domination. And a young Omar was in awe to not only watch legends such as Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson train but also interact with them. 

That’s where he met Peter Karlsson, a member of the golden generation of Swedish table tennis. “I was his first student, he was still active as a player but since then, I started training with him,” says Omar.

Second home

Since his first stint in Sweden in 2006, the country has become a second home for Omar. He may have lived and played in Germany, where he met his wife, and in France, but it’s the Scandinavian nation that he has fallen in love with. In fact, he is also a Swedish citizen now.

But that hasn’t stopped Omar from flying the Egyptian flag high. In fact, every time he goes back home — “mostly once every year in summer and once in the winter since I am travelling all over for tournaments for the rest of the year” — he feels blessed to be Egyptian. 

And Omar admits he is inadvertently reminded of his ultimate goal. “Over the last couple of years, my personal ambition has become a sort of national obsession. Whenever I am roaming around the streets of Cairo or Alexandria, I come across many who stop me and tell me: ‘We want to see you on the Olympic podium’. It’s an amazing feeling. I am so lucky to live in this moment,” he says.

Omar knows the road to the podium in Paris is not going to be as easy as winning his three African Championship titles. But the 32-year-old who speaks four languages believes in himself. 

“I am a trier and like I said, I don’t know anything apart from table tennis that drives me, so I hope I can get there,” he says. “The Olympics is the greatest sporting platform, far ahead of any other event. Just to be inside the village and watching all the legends in front of you. Seeing them train, be in the gym with them, watching them support other athletes along with you on the screen, it’s unmatchable.”

Still climbing

In the latest rankings update released on July 25, Omar has risen to World No. 21. Add this to his consistent performances on the WTT circuit over the last couple of years and the quarterfinal appearances in the Olympics and the World Championships, and you are convinced Omar is at the peak of his powers. But he doesn’t look at it that way.

“I don’t see myself as being at my peak. In fact, I never feel it since I tend to erase the slate very easily. I tend to forget what happened and look ahead. I have a high ceiling and I can climb up

there. I am still climbing. I still feel there is a long way to go,” he says.

“I don’t think the rankings are accurate. It’s nothing against the system. That’s how I see it. It reflects how often you play, not how good you are.”

Despite table tennis not finding a mention in the list of popular sports in Egypt, Omar has been able to carve a niche for himself and join Mohamed Salah in the list of the most popular Egyptian athletes. Having met with Salah a couple of times — and sent him a set of table tennis equipment — Omar hopes to share his vision for Egyptian sport with the celebrated footballer.

If and when it happens, Salah will be all ears — after all, Omar is deeply in love with table tennis. From being a kid obsessed with watching the sport to rubbing shoulders with global superstars such as Salah, Omar has come a really long way!