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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Published 12 March 2021
Quadri Aruna is confident of nicking one of the four available qualifications slots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the World Singles Qualification Tournament at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha, Qatar.
The four-day tournament holds from March 14 to 17.
Aruna, listed among the top seeds for the tournament, will compete alongside 72 men in the men’s singles for one of the four available slots for the Olympic.
Kenya, Congo Brazzaville and Algeria are among the African countries competing in the qualifying tournament for Tokyo 2020 in Qatar.
“I am happy that after resting for some days following the injury I sustained while playing for my club in the German Bundesliga, I was able to perform well at the WTT tournaments.
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President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Ishaku Tikon, has hailed Africa’s top player, Quadri Aruna, for his performance, after he crashed out of the 2021 World Table Tennis Star Contender in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday.
Aruna lost 3-0 (11-4, 13-11, 11-7) to Japan’s Harimoto Tamakazu, the world No.5 in the third round of the tournament.
Tikon, who hailed Aruna for flying the continent’s flag well, said he hoped he would replicate the performance at the 2020 Olympic qualifiers next week.
“I am particularly impressed with Aruna because he showed that he is among the best in the world. Unfortunately for him, he had a tough draw and this affected his good run, but in all, his performance has given us confidence that he will make it to the Tokyo Olympic Games at the qualifiers next week,” Tikon said.
Quadri Aruna will get a chance to secure his place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when the World Singles Qualification Tournament (WSQT) begins at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha, Qatar.
73 men and 60 women will be aiming for the nine slots available at the four-day tournament which begins on Sunday, March 14 to 17.
Aruna who is one of the listed players and among the top seeds had used the WTT Contender Series and Star Contender as warm-ups for the qualification and he will be hoping to pick one of the four slots for grab in the men’s singles.