Dina Meshref
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Egypt
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Egypt
Dina Meshref is an Egyptian player of Canadian origin. The female table tennis player was born on 10 March 1994 in Quebec, Canada and all her family members play the sport. She is a left-handed attacker who uses the shakehand grip. She won her sixth African Cup in the 2022 ITTF Africa Senior Championships in Algiers, Egypt.
She competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, the London 2012 Summer Olympics and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics to represent Egypt. In 2020, she was the only female player from Africa at the Women’s World Cup tournament.
Meshref has also played in the European Champions League as a member of Panathinaikos club in Greece. She is considered a mentor by Hana Goda.
Quick Facts
Biography
The full name of Dina Meshref is Dina Alaa El-din Wafiq Meshref. She attended American University in Cairo and it seems that she was always destined to play table tennis. Her parents and siblings were national champions; her mother played for Zamalek club and her father played for Al Ahly, the same club that signed up Meshref.
She is also closely related to Ashraf Helmy, Nihal Meshref and Yousra Helmy who are professional table tennis players that have represented Egypt at the Olympic Games.
Her family’s experience in the game proved beneficial after she switched from tennis to table tennis and they were instrumental in her rise to stardom.
Meshref started playing table tennis at the age of 8 and joined the national team when she was 12 years old.
Career
Dina Meshref is a multi-winner of the African Table Tennis Championships. In 2012, she won in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She was the winner in the women’s singles and mixed doubles in 2015 and in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles in 2016. In 2018, she won in the women’s singles, mixed doubles and women’s doubles. In 2021, she lifted the trophy in the mixed doubles with Omar Assar.
Meshref was a gold medalist in the Junior Girls’ doubles with El-Dawlatly Nadeen and finished second in the Junior Girls’ singles and mixed doubles with Shouman Mohamed at the 2011 ITTF African Junior Championships. She played at the 2011 Women's World Cup in Singapore and became the champion in the women’s singles, doubles and team events at the 2011 Pan Arab Games.
She finished in second position at the 2013 Nigeria Open.
Meshref was the women’s champion in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. She has also earned several gold medals, a silver medal, and a few bronze medals at the All-Africa Games.
Meshref played at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and was eliminated in the second round of the women’s singles at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. She competed in the women’s singles at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics and was eliminated in the first round of mixed doubles with Omar Assar at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
Dina Meshref won a bronze medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games and she was the champion in the women’s singles at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and in the team event at the 2020 Mediterranean Games. She was the only African player at the 2020 ITTF Women's World Cup. It was her eighth appearance at the Women’s World Cup.
Playing Style
Dina Meshref is an attacking player and her style is similar to Ding Ning, a fellow left-handed Chinese player and world champion whom she greatly admires.
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Achievements
The alumnus of The American University in Cairo has accomplished a lot in her career. She is a multi-champion of the ITTF Africa Cup, African Table Tennis Championships and All-Africa Games.
She has also won medals at the Mediterranean Games and the Women’s World Cup.
Meshref was a bronze medalist at the 2013 Juniors World Cup.
Ranking
In 2015, she was ranked first in singles and team categories at the African Games League.
Dina Meshref Equipment
Videos
Final Thoughts
Meshref made a good decision when she switched to table tennis. Since everyone in her family played table tennis professionally, her parents wanted her to pursue tennis instead and she did for a year before embracing table tennis.
She has played in the same club as her father who is the head of sports at the club as well as the Tennis Table Federation in Egypt. Although her family’s background gives her an edge, it is her passion, hard work and determination that have made her a prominent paddler and the latest Dina Meshref ranking among the top 25 players reinforces her work ethic.
According to her, the sport has instilled in her patience and taught her to accept her losses and turn them into victories.