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Tag: Aruna Quadri

  • Hong Kong Open: Quadri on seeding list

    After a disappointing outing at the China Open, Aruna Quadri has been considered one of the seeded players in the ITTF World Tour Hong Kong Open which serves off with the preliminary round.

    Also in the June 2019 ranking released by ITTF, Quadri remains 23rd rated player in the world, holding onto his status as Africa’s best.

    Thirty-two top players were seeded for the Hong Kong Open. Quadri is seeded number 15 and expected to start his campaign from the main draw tomorrow.

    Egypt’s Omar Assar has slid from the top 53 to 65 in the ranking but he remains the second best player in Africa.

    Also since being elevated to the highest of all in March 2018, for the 15th consecutive edition, China’s Fan Zhendong retains his no.1 position, on the men’s world rankings.

    As in the May listings, he remains ahead of colleagues Lin Gaoyuan and Xu Xin with Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto once again in the no.4 spot.

    Read Also: Aruna Quadri set for China Open

    Notably, even though winning the men’s singles title on home soil at the recently concluded Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open, Ma Long remains at no.5 ahead of Timo Boll of Germany, who changes places with China’s Liang Jingkun.

    Similarly, Brazil’s Hugo Calderano retains his no.8 spot ahead of Mattias Falck, previously at no.11, at the time the best of his career, the no.9 spot is yet another new high for the Swede.

    Korea’s Jang Woojin and Lee Sangsu each drop one place, being ahead of Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov who completes the top 12 names; in the May list, he occupied the no.15 spot.

    New heights for Mattias Falck; it is the same for Tomislav Pucar, a semi-finalist on home turf at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Croatia Open, he continues his policy of achieving new heights. Starting the year at no.70; in May he had climbed to no.43, now he stands at no.39.

    Progress; there is also a major progress for Poland’s Jakub Dyjas, England’s Paul Drinkhall and Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador, all players who excelled on the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Series in May.

     

  • Aruna Quadri set for China Open

    Being one of the elite tournaments in the ITTF World Tour, this year’s China Open will witness the assemblage of top stars across the globe including the top 50 ranked players in the world among them is Africa’s number one, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri.

    Already, the organisers have seeded the top 16 ranked players in the world to the main draw, while the likes of Quadri will have to start their campaigns from the preliminary alongside others as the preliminary round begins today May 28 at the Shenzhen Bao’an District Sports Center Gymnasium.

    The $400,000 prize money championship will afford the players to garner ranking points in their bid to secure places at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

    Quadri who has been competing in an invitational tournament in China, will be aiming to garner points from China Open with the aim of maintaining his status as top 30 in the world which will help to qualify him automatically for the Olympic Games.

    Read Also: Aruna Quadri jumps into second round

    Aside from the Olympic Games, Quadri is also aiming to compete at the 2019 ITTF World Cup holding later in the year in Chengdu, China. Also, Egypt’s Omar Assar will be leading the Egyptian contingent to China Open. His sibling – Khaled will also be competing alongside Turkish-based Mohamed El-Beiali and Ahmed Saleh.

    Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw will also be using the tournament to tune up for the 2019 African Games in Morocco.

    A total of 32 China Open tournaments have been staged since 1996, the year in which the ITTF World Tour was inaugurated.

    In that period of time, on no less than 29 occasions the men’s singles title has been won by a player from China; furthermore, a total of 28 times, the final has been an all Chinese affair. Some records may show that in 1996 in X’ian, Bulgaria’s Feng Zhe was the runner up beaten by Kong Linghui in the final; the fact he was the silver medallist is correct but at the time he was a member of the Chinese national team.

  • Aruna Quadri remains static in ITTF ranking

    Unlike his continental counterpart Egypt’s Omar Assar who plummeted in the May ITTF ranking, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri maintains his status as the continent’s best as well as 23rd rated player in the world.

    Also, as one of the seeded players at the ITTF Challenge Serbia Open, Olajide Omotayo has been set up against Russia’s Petr Fedotov in the first round of the men’s singles at the $30,000 prize money championship.

    In the ranking list released by the world table tennis ruling body, Quadri gained some points to maintain his ranking as the 23rd rated male player in the world.

    Egypt’s Assar whose first round exit at the 2019 World Championships denied him the chance of improving his rating dropped to 53 in the May ranking from 47th which he was in April.

    Omotayo will be facing a huge task against the Russian who fought his way from the qualifiers to the main draw. The Nigerian has been seeded 22 among the 32 seeded players for the men’s singles.

    The Lagos State-born star will be hoping to use the tournament to shore up his world rating after dropping to 136 from 129 in the latest rating.

    The medallists at the recently 2019 World Championships in Budapest, China’s Ma Long and Liang Jingkun, alongside Sweden’s Mattias Falck and Korea Republic’s An Jaehyun, climb the men’s world rankings; however, the name at the very top of the May list released remains the same.

    Once again, for the 14th consecutive monthly publication, despite a fourth-round exit in Budapest, China’s Fan Zhendong is at the head of the order.

    The status quo for Fan Zhendong, for his colleagues there is major progress, Ma Long climbs from no.11 to no.5; Liang Jingkun advances from one career high to another. He moves from no.9 to no.6.

    Similarly, for Mattias Falck, the runner up in Budapest, it is unchartered waters, he progresses from no.16 to no.11; his previous best being earlier this year at no.13 in both January and February. Progress but none can match An Jaehyun, like Liang Jingkun, a bronze medallist in the Hungarian capital city; he advances from no.157 to an unprecedented no.73.

     

  • Quadri’s conqueror out as Timo Boll withdraws

    Less than 24 hours after showing Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri exit in the men’s singles of the 2019 ITTF World Championships, world number one – China’s Fan Zhendong met his waterloo on Thursday April 25 after he was also bundled out of the competition.

    Also, fans’ favourite, Timo Boll of Germany has withdrawn from his round of 16 tie against Korea’s Woojin Jang after it was confirmed that the former world number one has fever.

    In a statement issued and made available to NationSport, the German legend, unfortunately, fell ill with a fever and had to pull out of the Men’s Singles Event. He will, however, try his best to recover in time for his Men’s Doubles match with Patrick FRANZISKA.

    Seeded number one and ranked number one in the world, Fan Zhendong has been tipped as one of the favourites to claim the title having dominated the ranking for more than a year but he met a stiff opposition in his compatriot – Jingkun Lian.

    From the start of the encounter on centre table, it was as if Fan Zhendong was destined to rule the tournament with his powerful shots in the first game. He however struggled to win the first game at 11-5.

    But Liang restored parity and raced to the lead with 11-4, 11-8, 11-9 wins. But Fan Zhendong was not ready to depart the competition without a fight, the Chinese super star who made nonsense of African champion in the round of 32, fought back in the fifth game which he won at 11-8.

    The sixth game was explosive with both players entertaining the specataors with their intermitent rally and storkes but at the end it Liang that carried the day with 11-7 win to complete a 4-2 vicotry over Fan Zhendong.

    A disappotined Fan Zhendong told NationSport after the match that he was disappointed with his performance in the encounter.

    “I really prepared well for this competition and I am so disappointed with my performance in the round of 16. It was a big loss to me but I hope to direct my energy to the mixed doubles match later in the day,” Fan Zhendong said.

     

  • Chinese super star ends Quadri’s stay in Budapest

    The stay of Aruna Quadri in Budapest came to an end yesterday when the only surviving African star fell 0-4 to world number one – China’s Fan Zhendong in the third round of the men’s singles at the 2019 ITTF World Championships in Hungary.

    Prior to their meeting in Budapest, Quadri had been beaten 4-0 by the Chinese star, who is tipped as favourite for the title and in Budapest, it was same story as the African star could not contain the pace of the bulky Asian giant.

    From the start of the match in one of the centre tables, Quadri did not hide his intention to shock the Chinese by taking a lead from the start until his opponent caught up with him at 9-9. Even when the Chinese star took 10-9 lead, Quadri leveled up but the superiority of the Chinese came to fore in the last two games to end the first at 12-10.

    Read also: Aruna Quadri jumps into second round

    The second game was in faovur of the Chinese as he easily won at 11-2 while the third game went the way of the second game with 11-6 win.

    Despite trailing the Chinese 0-3, Quadri again put in extra effort into the fourth game by taking a 7-3 lead but the cunny Chinese caught up against at 8-8. Even when it was 10-9, Quadri still gave his best until a superb shot to the backhand of Quadri that put the encounter beyond the Nigeria at 11-9.

  • I’m disappointed I couldn’t not win a game, says Quadri

    Despite losing 4-0 to China’s Fan Zhendong in the third round of the men’s singles at the 2019 ITTF World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aruna Quadri has that he was disappointed that he could win a game.

    Having lost 0-4 to the Chinese star in their first meeting at the 2017 Swedish Open, Quadri said: “I tried my best to win at least a game in the encounter to be able to put him under pressure unfortunately I could not. So I am so disappointed because of this. I am disappointed with my performance in the competition because this is another good performance for me,” he said.

    He however commended his opponent for his near-perfect performance describing him as the best in the world. “Fan Zhendong performance showed why he is ranked number one in the world. So I must give kudos to him and I hope to be back again next time,” Quadri said.

     

  • Quadri was too strong for me, admits Iran star

    Iran’s Nima Alamian has said that he lost the second round of the men’s singles tie of the 2019 ITTF World Championships to Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri based on the quality of the Nigerian as well as powerful forehand shots.

    In what could be described as an explosive encounter, Quadri and Alamian gave the fans at the HungExpo some to cheer with their near-perfect display coupled with the manner the match ended in favour of the Nigerian.

    A disappointed Alamian told NationSport after the encounter on Tuesday that he was not surprised with the outcome of the match, admitted that the Nigeria had experience and ranking in his favour.

    “When I won the first game I was confident that I could win the match. But I made a lot of mistakes and we must also acknowledge that he is ranked higher than me and he is good player. It was painful losing the final game at 12-10 after fighting from 5-0 down in the seventh game for the game to go into 10-10,” the Iranian said.

    “I also think he is stronger than me because he is ranked 23 while I am ranked 60 so the win is expected and it is unfortunate I had to lose in such manner,” he added.

     

  • I want to enjoy myself against Fan Zhendong, says Aruna Quadri

    Knowing the task ahead of him in the third round tie against world number one – China’s Fan Zhendong, Aruna Quadri has said that he has nothing to lose against the Asian as he is hoping to enjoy himself in the tie.

    The Nigerian described his second round victory against Iran’s Nima Alamian as the toughest match for him in the tournament.

    “I think this is the toughest match I ever played this year because we both knew ourselves. We trained together at same camp before the competition and I had also told my coach that it is going to be 50-50 game for me. I found it difficult to return his service because I could not understand it but I managed throughout and I am happy winning at this stage,” he said

    Quadri added: “Against Fan Zhendong, I am going out there to give my best and also enjoy myself as I have nothing to lose against him.”

  • Aruna Quadri jumps into second round

    The manner that Aruna Quadri defeated Belgium’s Florent Lambient again showed his readiness to excel at the 2019 ITTF World Championships holding in Budapest, Belgium.

    But it was an early exit for Egypt’s Omar Assar after he fell 4-3 to Portugal’s Joao Geraldo in the first round of the men’s singles.

    Africa’s only surviving female player in the competition remains Egypt’s Dina Meshref after her compatriots – Yousra Helmy and Reem El-Eraky tasted defeats in the first round matches of the women’s singles.

    From the start of the encounter against the Belgian, Quadri took charge and he ensured that he did not give the European any breathing space even though there were some jittery in the first two games.

    The African champion claimed the first two games in a closed encounter with 11-8, 11-9 and from there his confidence grew to end the next two games at 11-7, 11-5.

    On the opposite side of Quadri was Egypt’s Assar battling for his life against the Portuguese southpaw who has always been his nemesis in several competitions.

    Assar was leading 3-1, but the Portuguese star fought back to end the dream of the Egyptian in the first round at 11-13, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.

     

    Yousra Helmy was set up against world number one, Ning Ding but the Chinese star wasted no time in sending the Egyptian packing with a 4-0 bashing.

     

    Reem El-Eraky was also no match to Ukraine’s Ganna Gaponova as the Egyptian fell 4-0 as well.

    Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou who was playing in her first main draw of a World Championships could withstand the pace of China’s Manyu Wang to concede 0-4 defeat as well.

    The only hope for Africa rests with Dina Meshref who came from 3-0 down to beat India’s Archana Girish Kamath 4-3 (8-11, 8-11, 17-19, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4)

    Aruna Quadri will battle Iran’s  Nima Alamian while Meshref will take on Canada’s Mo Zhang in the second round tie later.

  • Experience gave us an edge over Nigeria in men’s doubles, admits Timo Boll

    After coming from behind to beat Nigeria’s duo of Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo in the main draw of the men’s doubles of the 2019 ITTF World Championships, Germany’s Timo Boll has admitted that experience played vital part in their triumph over the Africans.

    The Germans had to come from 2-1 down to beat the Nigerians 4-2 in the explosive encounter with the German legend – Timo Boll partnering Patrick Franziska in the match.

    “It was a tough match because we never expected them to give a serious challenge and this happened. From the start they are very strong but we had to restrategise to overcome. I think experience holds the key for us in the encounter. We had to rely on our experience in the game to muscle the victory from them. I am so happy we started well and I hope we will improve as we progress,” he admitted.

    Quadri and Omotayo gave the fans something to cheer in the encounter with their display against the experienced Germans. The backhand spin from Omotayo most times confused Timo Boll but the change of tactics from the Germans demystified the Nigerians in the match.