Quadri Aruna will compete at the WTT Contender Lima 2023 in Peru as the main draw begins at the Villa Deportiva Nacional tomorrow, 3rd August.
Aruna who was handed a wildcard by WTT , is number five seed and the only African competing at the South American nation where he will contend with defending champion Dan Qiu of Germany as well as fans’ favourite Hugo Calderano of Brazil.
Aruna who is hoping to shore up his ranking ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers later in the year, gained one step up the world ranking ladder last week to move to 17th in the latest ITTF ranking.
Read Also: Aruna gets wildcard for WTT Contender Lima
“I know it is going to be tough in Lima because everybody is playing well and we are all eyeing a place at the Paris Olympic Games so it behooves me to be at my best in Lima. it is a new terrain for me to play and I know their fans are just like Lagos fans just I had been told by some of my friends in Peru,” he said.
A prize pool of $75,000 and 400 ITTF World Ranking points will be at stake while Men’s Singles champion Qiu picked up a wildcard like Aruna to be part of the party in Lima and will be chasing back-to-back titles.
In 2022, Peru provided Qiu with his second ever international singles title and first in the WTT Series. The man he beat in the 2022 final was none other than fellow German Dimitrij Ovtcharov, the World No.10 who is also back in Lima as the second seed.
A rematch between last year’s finalists could well be on the cards.