Ishaku Tikon, the President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federatio, on Thursday says the federation is optimistic that Aruna Quadri will win the International Table Tennis Federation World Cup.
Tikon told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that the 29-year-old player, ranked number one in Africa, was preparing hard for the tournament scheduled from October 20 to 22 in Liege, Belgium.
Quadri was the first-ever African to reach the quarter-finals of the event in Duesseldorf, Germany in 2014.
Tikon said: “In the last two years the player has improved his skills and has equally created lots of surprises for us in Africa.
“He recently won the Polish Open to become the first African to win an ITTF title outside his continent.
“If he can achieve all of these, why will he not face the world number one.
“At the moment, he is in very high spirit and we are giving him all the necessary support he needs.
“He also has a new coach who will guide him properly. I am sure he will win the title. He can do it.”
Quadri qualified for the championship after beating continental rival Egypt’s Omar Assar in the ITTF Africa Cup earlier in the year.
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