Having put his group stage loss to Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali behind him, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri caused the biggest upset of ITTF Africa Senior Cup competition after beating defending champion and number one, Egypt’s El-Sayed Lashin, 4-2 in the quarterfinal match of the men’s singles.
From the start of the encounter, Lashin was full of confidence that Quadri would not prevent him from retaining the title, but things turned around for him as was made to surrender by the 2014 ITTF Star Player.
The encounter attracted some fans to the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Yaounde, Cameroon with both players thrilling the fans with their superb performance which attracted applaud.
To win the match, Quadri had to dig deep to silent Lashin at 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 8-11 to the excitement of the fans.
An exhausted Quadri said it was tough for him beating Lashin as both players play same style.
“It was always a tough encounter between the two of us because he has defeated more times and we both play same style I had difficult initially even the sixth game I was leading 7-2 for him to level up at 7-7, so it was a tough win. In the semifinal, I take each game as they come and I will not underrate anyone as I intend to give my 100 percent in all matches,” Quadri said.
To berth in the final on Thursday, Quadri continued his good run with an emphatic 4-1 (11-4, 11-4, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6) win over Algeria’s Idir Khourta.
He is expected to meet the winner between Egypt’s Omar Assar and Mohammed El-Beiali in the final.
However, Olufunke Oshonaike settled for bronze after losing 1-4 to Nadeen El-Dawlatly in the semifinal of the women’s singles, while number one seed, Egypt’s Dina Meshref, also defeated Algeria’s Islem Laid 4-0 in the second semifinal tie.
From Friday, 13 teams made up of seven male clubs and six female clubs across the continent will begin hostilities at the ITTF Africa Club Championship in Yaounde with Union Bank Sports Club being the sole representative of Nigeria in the men’s event.
—