Quadri Aruna will be the cynosure of all eyes at the Russian Table Tennis Centre in Orenburg as the African champion leads defending champion Fakel-Gazprom in their battle to retain the league title this season.
Already, Fakel-Gazprom is second behind league leader UMMC which has 32 points as eight teams from the 12 that started the league will qualify for the lucrative play-off next month.
Aruna who joined Fakel-Gazprom from German Bundesliga side Fulda TTC,has been unbeaten in the league and he will be hoping to remain unbeaten when the battle for the playoff starts today in the men’s Premier League.
According to the Russian Table Tennis Federation (RTTF):“matches of the final round of the regular Team Championship of the FNTR among the teams of the men’s Premier League will be held from April 21 to 23.
All 12 participating teams will fight for the coveted “eight” which gives the right to enter the playoff stage, where the championship medals will be played.
Aruna who exited the WTT Champions Macao two days ago after losing to World and Olympics champion Ma Long of China told NationSport from Moscow yesterday that he is ready to lead the team to their title defence against UMMC complete with Croat superstar Tomislav Putsar.
He said: “I believe the league is among the toughest I had ever played because most of the players may not be in the world ranking but their quality is not in doubt. “Regardless of the team, every player has an equal chance to beat anyone and for me I am sure my team can retain the title and we hope to do that again this year. This is my first season in the league and I am looking forward to winning another European league title after I won several titles with Sporting in Portugal.”
At present, UMMC (Verkhnyaya Pyshma) is leading with 32 points and two points above champion Fakel-Gazprom (Orenburg). The third placed team is Sparta with 28points while the team occupying the eight spot is Altai with 21 points.