2021/03/03. Round of 32 at Doha Contender, Lusail Sports Arena, Doha, Qatar.
Africa’s number one table tennis player, Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna is hoping to pick his ticket to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games from the world ranking after his unsuccessful efforts at qualifying for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games through the World Singles Qualification Tournament (WSQT) in Doha, Qatar.
Listed among the 73 men competing at the WSQT and seeded number two behind England’s Liam Pitchford, Aruna yesterday fell to Russian sensation Vladimir Sidorenko 4-2 (11-3, 11-13, 11-6, 9-11, 4-11, 7-11) to miss out from picking the ticket from WSQT.
Despite expressing disappointment over his performance against the Russian who last week edged out Egypt’s Omar Assar from the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender, Aruna is optimistic that with his performance at the WTT Contender Series and Star Contender, his spot in Tokyo is certain.
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2021/03/03. Round of 32 at Doha Contender, Lusail Sports Arena, Doha, Qatar.
The Secretary General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Olabanji Oladapo, could not hide his excitement after watching Quadri Aruna becoming the first African to qualify for the quarter-final of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Series taking place in Doha, Qatar.
On Wednesday, Quadri beat Indian national champion Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 3-0 to set up a round of 16 tie against Portugalâs Joao Geraldo.
And yesterday at Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Aruna continued his good run with another superlative performance to record a 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6) win over his Portuguese counterpart.