Quadri Aruna’s stay at this year’s WTT Cup Finals lasted for less than one hour after the African champion was brought down by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju in the first round of the men’s singles at Xinxiang Pingyuan Sports Center.
Being their second meeting on the international stage, the Asian star dominated the entire encounter claiming a quick win in the first two games at 11-4, 11-6.
The head-to-head record may be against Aruna, but the Nigerian superstar would not go down without a fight as he fought back in the third game with a 12-8 win to put the tie at 2-1.
Yun-Ju was aware of the strong fightback quality of the Nigerian but he prevented another upset as the world number 10 raced to the lead from the first point to the end to win the fourth game at 11-4 to complete a 3-1 win over the African star.
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The exit of Aruna put an end to his dream of recording another quarterfinal finish after his scintillating display at the maiden edition in Singapore last year.
However, Aruna remains the only African to have featured in the WTT Cup Finals since its inception in 2021 and his outing last year made him the first player from the continent to reach the quarterfinal stage of the lucrative tournament.
Meanwhile, the highlight of day one was the performance of Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz who was the standout name in the Women’s Singles round of 16.
The 21-year-old ace captivated the Xinxiang crowd with a dazzling Day 1 display on Infinity Arena, overpowering Hong Kong, China’s Doo Hoi Kem across four thrilling games (10-12, 11-5, 11-8, 14-12) to seal her first-ever win over the World No.9, and with it, her place in the quarterfinal draw.