The tournament, which has the best 20 players drawn across the world through qualifiers, will on Friday at the Country Hall in Liege begin hostilities at the third most prestigious tournaments in the ITTF Calendar.
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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.
It was Joola, a sports manufacturing firm, that secured the services of the German coach for the Nigerian player.
In his review of the 2017 Polish Open, Marshall wrote: “At the Liebherr 2014 Men’s World Cup in Düsseldorf Quadri Aruna became the first player from Africa to reach the quarter-final stage of the prestigious tournament; just over one year ago in the Men’s Singles event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, he replicated the feat. Against all expectations he reached the round of the last eight.
The Nigerian, who has been listed among the top 20 players in the world that will compete at the prestigious ITTF World Cup from October 20 to 22, defeated giant killing Japan’s Kaii Yoshida 11-7, 11-13 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12 (4-2) to become the first African to win the ITTF title outside the continent.
Quadri, who claimed his first title in the Portuguese league at the weekend after lifting the Portuguese Super Cup with Sporting, is joined on the seeding list by Sporting’s teammate, Joao Monteiro
The 2014 ITTF Star Player said: “I am doing this to ensure that we produce more top players and I know that one of the major challenges facing the development of the game is the availability of equipment.
Already, Aruna Quadri qualified in July as the winner of the ITTF Africa Cup and Omar Assar was confirmed as the second continental flag bearer based on his world ranking. Also after the conclusion of the ITTF Asian Cup held in India, the Egyptian is ranked among the top 40 in the world to be considered as qualifier for the 20-man tournament.
Quadri, who has consistently been inking his name in the annals of African table tennis history as the first African to make it to the quarterfinal of the Olympic Games as well as the first player from the continent to make it to the semifinal of the ITTF World Tour.
The fans were indeed treated to exciting match, but after the encounter, the fans were disappointed that Quadri could not go beyond the last 16 after he suffered a surprising 4-2 defeat in the hand of Abiodun.
Over 100 players competed in the preliminary round with the intention of making it to the main draw and at the end of the second day, 32 men and 16 women will be joining the seeded players in the main draw (round of 64 in men and round of 32 in the women).
Quadri expressed the wish in Day 1 of the “Seamaster International Table Tennis Federation Challenge Nigeria Open Championships holding at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Fellow compatriots, Bode Abiodun and Ojo Onaolapo, are seeded eight and nine respectively in the men’s event.
In the seeding list released at the weekend by the International Table Tennis Federation, Quadri, who is ranked 29 in the world, tops the men’s list, while his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar, is number two seed.
Quadri will be leading Oilmax-Stag Yoddhas against DHFL Maharashtra United, led by World No. 8, Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, who will also be joined by women’s No. 22, Austria’s Liu Jia, along with Portugal’s Joao Monteiro and Fu Yu, who are both part of the top 50 in the men’s and women’s category respectively.
France, which is one of the top European teams in the world, as well as Scotland, another European team at the Commonwealth Games, will be having their players competing for the first time in the Nigeria Open.
Oladapo, who was in Agadir, Morocco when Quadri beat Assar 4-3 in the men’s singles final, admitted that the country is yet to realise that players are not coming through due to lack of quality coaching.
The Minister described the feat as a confirmation of the Oyo State born ping pong star’s superiority in Africa and also his emergence
Having conquered Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali 4-0 in the semifinal, Quadri showed his class to beat Omar Assar 4-3 in the men’s singles final to the admiration of the fans at the venue.
Quadri, who has been listed among the foreign legion competing at the maiden Ultimate Table Tennis Championships in India, is at present representing Egypt’s Alhy in the ongoing African Club Championships