*Katsina United 1 El-Kanemi Warriors 0
Auwal Sadiq Abubakar (7th min)
* Kano Pillars 0 Niger Tornadoes 2
Abdulrasheed Dabai (2nd half)
Terdoo Shimagande (2nd half)
* Enugu Rangers 0 Kwara United 0
* Wikki Tourists 2 Shooting Stars 0
Abdullahi Usman (30th min)
Jonathan Mairiga (42nd min)
FRI, OCT 24:
Katsina Utd vs El-Kanemi Warriors 4:00pm
SAT:
Kano Pillars vs Niger Tornadoes 4:00pm
SUN:
Abia Warriors vs FC Barau 4:00pm
Warri Wolves vs Bayelsa Utd 4:00pm
Enugu Rangers vs Kwara Utd 4:00pm
Plateau Utd vs Enyimba 4:00pm
Wikki Tourists vs Shooting Stars 4:00pm
Kun Khalifat vs Bendel Insurance 4:00pm
Rivers Utd vs Ikorodu City (pp)
Nasarawa Utd vs Remo Stars (pp)
FRI: OCT. 24:
Leeds Utd vs West Ham 8:00pm
SAT:
Newcastle vs Fulham 3:00pm
Chelsea vs Sunderland 3:00pm
Man Utd vs Brighton 5:30pm
Brentford vs Liverpool 8:00pm
SUN:
Arsenal vs C'Palace 3:00pm
Wolves vs Burnley 3:00pm
Aston Villa vs Man City 3:00pm
B'nemouth vs Nottm Forest 3:00pm
Everton vs Tottenham 5:30pm
SUN, OCT 19:
Niger Tornadoes vs Plateau Utd 4:00pm
El-Kanemi Warriors vs Wikki Tourists 4:00pm
Kwara Utd vs Katsina Utd 4:00pm
Barau FC vs Kano Pillars 4:00pm
Enyimba vs Warri Wolves 4:00pm
Bayelsa Utd vs Kun Khalifat 4:00pm
Shooting Stars vs Abia Warriors 4:00pm
Ikorodu City vs Nasarawa Utd 4:00pm
Remo Stars vs Enugu Rangers (pp)
Bendel Insurance vs Rivers Utd (pp)
SAT: OCT. 18:
Nottm Forest vs Chelsea 12:30pm
Burnley vs Leeds Utd 3:00pm
Brighton vs Newcastle 3:00pm
Sunderland vs Wolves 3:00pm
C'Palace vs Bournemouth 3:00pm
Man City vs Everton 3:00pm
Fulham vs Arsenal 5:30pm
SUN:
Tottenhan vs Aston Villa 2:00pm
Liverpool vs Man Utd 4:30pm
MON:
West Ham vs Brentford 8:00pm
Omar Assar and Hana Goda cemented their dominance in African table tennis by setting new records at the 2025 ITTF Africa Championships in Tunis on Wednesday.
Assar clinched his fifth Men’s Singles title, while Goda, at just 17, became the youngest African to win three consecutive Women’s Singles titles.
Assar, who made no secret of his ambition to reclaim the title in Tunis, was pushed to the limit by compatriot Youssef Abdelaziz in a thrilling final that had all the hallmarks of a classic showdown.
In contrast, Goda cruised to victory, overpowering Dina Meshref 4-0 in a commanding display that confirmed her status as the continent’s rising star. With this win, Assar has become the first player to clinch five singles titles in the continent.
“Winning this year’s title wasn’t easy — it was mentally tough,” Goda said. “The scoreline might look simple, but the match was intense. I’m proud to become the first African woman to win three consecutive singles titles.”
While Goda wrapped up her match in under an hour, Assar had to dig deep, coming from behind twice to secure his fifth singles crown.
Reflecting on the hard-fought win, Assar said, “This final reminded me of the roller-coaster matches I’ve had with Aruna, where I had to come back from 3-1 down. Today, I stayed focused and kept telling myself not to give up — I needed this badly. I’m proud to win my fifth title, marking my 14th singles title in Africa. I hope to make it to 15 soon.”
Egypt’s dominance extended beyond the singles events, as the nation swept all three doubles titles — Mixed Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Men’s Doubles —at the championships.
In the Mixed Doubles final, defending champions Youssef Abdelaziz and Mariam Alhodaby retained their crown with a straight-sets victory over fellow Egyptians Mostafa Badr and Marwa Alhodaby (11-4, 11-7, 11-9).
The newly formed duo of Dina Meshref and Hana Goda proved formidable in the Women’s Doubles, defeating the Alhodaby twins, Mariam and Marwa, 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4) to claim their first title together. The pair had previously reached the final at the WTT Contender Lagos in July.
In the Men’s Doubles, Abdelaziz added to his medal haul by teaming up with Mohamed El-Beiali. The Egyptian pair overcame Algeria’s Bella Maheidine and Jellouli Milhane in an entertaining 3-1 final (11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2).
'AJ' has not stepped into the ring since his fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois, witnessed by over 95,000 fans in September 2024.
Joshua is expected to make a comeback in the coming months after recovering from elbow surgery, which has kept him out of action for most of 2025.
However, there's a slim possibility that his return could happen before the year ends, according to his promoter, Eddie Hearn. In a recent interview on Sportico and The Boxing Mob, Hearn unveiled Matchroom's schedule for the remainder of 2025, featuring trips to Australia, Monaco, Birmingham, Los Angeles, and Africa just before Christmas, reports All Out Fighting.
In a new update from the Matchroom boss, Hearn disclosed that Joshua might feature on the undercard of a potential end-of-year event. If this happens, it would mark the British boxer's first appearance lower down an event for the first time in 10 years - when he knocked out Kevin Johnson on the undercard of Kell Brook vs Frankie Gavin.
In a chat with IFL TV, Hearn revealed: "All I'm saying is, if he (Anthony Joshua) fights this year, it will just be a 'run out' fight. Because, coming back and fighting in a big arena, in a tough fight after being out for a year and a half, it's not easy." He further added: "And it ain't about the money [in] this fight this year. It's 50/50 if he fights this year, but if he does, he'll be added to a card. He won't be headlining."
As Joshua prepares for his much-awaited comeback, he has already been challenged by numerous heavyweight stars. Arslanbek Makhmudov stated that he will be Joshua's next opponent following his victory over Dave Allen. "I already have a deal with him. We spoke with him on Instagram. He said, 'Okay go fight with Dave Allen and [we] fight next year. He confirmed. Now, it's his turn. I'm going to go for win like this night. I go for win, try to win [and] to make a good fight. I'm a boxer. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna box," he declared.
However, Matchroom's CEO Frank Smith has dampened those expectations, stating: "Not necessarily front runner. Look, we'll be working with Arslanbek moving forward on what's next, and we'll work hard to deliver big opportunities. He deserves big opportunities.
"But I have said time and time again that it is a fickle sport that we are in. He loses to Agit Kabayel, and people say 'oh, he's finished'. Kabayel is in the top five of the heavyweight division, so we'll be working on that. [But] not necessarily the front runner for Anthony Joshua. AJ is on his own path of what he's going to do. I know he [Makhmudov] wants Anthony Joshua, but we all want a lot of things."
Just hours following Makhmudov's victory over Allen, Guido Vianello threw his hat into the ring to face Joshua next year after his knockout win against Alexis Barriere. "Now I want a big name," said Vianello.
"You want to know what big name I want? Anthony Joshua. I want Anthony Joshua. I want him in front of me. Let's fight in Rome, in The Coliseum, in London – whatever you want. But give me a big name, please. I'm 31, I don't have extra time, I want to win now."
Joshua is anticipated to take on a lesser opponent for his comeback bout in order to secure some vital rounds under his belt before potentially pursuing a blockbuster clash with long-time rival Tyson Fury next summer.
SUN, Oct. 12
Kun Khalifat vs Enyimba 4:00pm
Abia Warriors vs El-Kanemi Warriors 4:00pm
Nasarawa Utd vs Enugu Rangers 4:00pm
Wikki Tourists vs Kwara Utd 4:00pm
Ikorodu City vs Bendel Insurance 4:00pm
Plateau Utd vs FC Barau 4:00pm
Rivers Utd vs Bayelsa Utd 4:00pm
Warri Wolves vs Niger Tornadoes 4:00pm
Katsina Utd vs Remo Stars 4:00pm
Kano Pillars vs Shooting Stars 4:00pm
The move came after she featured at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup where Nigeria got eliminated in the round of 16 via penalties at the hands of the Three Lionesses of England.
“I spoke to some teams in the UK, US and Europe, then Dad said there was a team in Saudi Arabia who are interested in you.
“I was shocked. My initial reaction was ‘no', but I wanted to give them a chance,” Plumpre said in an interview with BBC Sports UK.
The former Leicester City stated that she didn't make the Saudi move because of money.
“I had an hour-long call with the coach and two people in the management staff, and I said to Dad, ‘I have a really good feeling about this.
“We barely even spoke about football, but about ourselves and what we were passionate about.
“I'm someone who goes off feeling and intuition. But I wanted to go out and visit – I wanted to see what it was really like. I visited for two days and really liked it, and when I left there I thought ‘this is where I want to be',” the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) winner said.
Plumptre pointed out that the quality of the Saudi Women's Pro League is steep, in comparison to the WSL in England.
“It's not something I will ever hide away from – the standard is not what I'm used to in the WSL or at the international level, and I worried how that would impact me and my development.
“One of my club and international teammates, Francisca Ordega, said in Saudi Arabia, we must do more.
“The pace is not as fast, so you must think in different ways, and push yourselves beyond boundaries that you didn't before. There is more responsibility on you."
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Caption: Plumptre (right) battles for ball possession with her compatriot, Asisat Oshoala, during their Saudi Premier League clash recently.
