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Tag: Aruna Quadri

  • Top 16 Cup: Assar reclaims title from Quadri in Kenya

    Top 16 Cup: Assar reclaims title from Quadri in Kenya

     

    The final match between Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar at the 2018 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup had all the element of the epic match and the fans at the Kasarani Hall of Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi were not disappointed as they were treated to an exciting match.

    From the start of the encounter, the two players showed their class with superb shots and tactical play with Assar taking a 2-0 lead. Quadri reduced the lead to 2-1. In the fourth game, Quadri needed only one point to be at par as he was leading  10-6, but Assar caught up with him to put the game at 3-1.

    Quadri showed the quality of a professional that despite being down by 3-1, he fought well and restored parity at 3-3 to the admiration of the fans who started shouting his name.

    The seventh match saw the Egyptian racing to the lead from the start but as usual Quadri tried his best to catch up but Omar finished up to dethrone Quadri at 4-3 thus emerging the new African champion.

    Edem Offiong had to settle for third spot after beating Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi 4-0 in the third place match.

    Egypt’s Dina Meshref retained her women’s title with a 4-1 win over Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou.

    Speaking to NationSport after the match, Assar said: “It is unbelievable for me to win this tournament and it came at the right time I needed my confidence after starting the year not too well at the Hungarian Open and in the German Bundesliga.

    There has been a lot of pressure on me after moving to another club from my former club.

    “I think winning this will restore my confidence and I will be grateful to Werder Bremen for their support. I also think

    Aruna played very well and he deserved to win as well. This final is a good showcase for Africa and I am happy that we have such level of competition in Africa with quality players,” he added.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Quadri one step to ITTF Africa’s final

    Quadri one step to ITTF Africa’s final

    Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and female compatriot Offiong Edem are into the semifinals of the 2018 ITTF-Africa Top 16 Cup, being decided in Nairobi.

    Both the semi-finals and finals will be played today.

    Places in the Liebherr 2018 Men’s World Cup and 2018 Women’s World Cup are at stake.

    In the Men’s Singles event Egypt is very much in evidence; in the penultimate round Omar Assar, the top seed, faces Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu, Ahmed Ali Saleh, the no.3 seed, opposes Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna.

    Similarly in the Women’s Singles competition there is a strong Egyptian presence; at the semi-final stage Dina Meshref, seeded no.1, plays Nigeria’s Offiong Edem, the no.4 seed, Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou confronts Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi.

    Listed at no.16 on the current Men’s World Rankings, Omar Assar starts as the clear favourite against Saheed Idowu, named at no.311 but the two have never met in recent times on the international stage and it would appear Omar Assar has some concerns.

    “I’m very happy to reach the semi-finals. I’m also very happy for each win because here the conditions are not normal. Some players are playing well because they are used to playing in high altitude but the players who play at normal altitude cannot even put two or three balls on the table. So this makes it a little bit interesting. I really don’t know, it’s very interesting that the organizers came here to play, the altitude is really very unique.” Omar Assar

    Read Also: Aruna Quadri shoots up to 27 in latest ITTF ranking

    A first meeting for Omar Assar and Saheed Idowu; not for Quadri Aruna and Ahmed Ali Saleh; they are no strangers. Notably, in world ranking events, Ahmed Ali Saleh won the five encounters starting with the success at the 2010 African Championships in Yaoundé.

    However, the most recent two engagements have gone the way of Quadri Aruna; he succeeded at the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville and at the 2016 African Championships in Agadir.

    Meanwhile, when past results are taken into account both Dina Meshref and Sarah Hanffou start as favourites. At the African Games in 2011 in Maputo, Dina Meshref lost to Offiong Edem but one must remember she was only 16 years when she experienced the defeat. Ever since that date, eight meetings in succession, Dina Meshref has won on each occasion.

    It is not too dissimilar a situation for Sarah Hanffou; three contests against Lynda Loghraibi; she has won all three, the most recent being the 2016 Olympic Qualification tournament in Khartoum.

    Past results point in certain directions but could they key be the player who can adapt, the player who can succeed at high altitude and reach the heights.

    NAN

  • Quadri leads Sporting to retain Portuguese Cup

    Quadri leads Sporting to retain Portuguese Cup

     

    Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri was in super form as he  started the year for his  Portuguese club  Sporting on a bright note leading the Lisbon based side   to retain the 2018 Portuguese Cup.

    In the final match involving Sporting and ADC Ponta do Pargo, which Nigeria-born Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu and Nigeria’s Jide Ogidiolu, Quadri inspired Sporting, to a 3-0 bashing of their opponent in the final held at the High Performance Center in Caldas da Rainha.

    This wins which comes ahead of the first leg of the epic quarterfinal battle against French champion – Stella Sporta La Romagne in the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League on Friday June 25, will boost the confidence of Quadri and his teammates. ,

    Inspired by their Nigerian export – Quadri as well as Portuguese international, João Monteiro, Sporting continued their league fine run with another excellent display to be crowned the cup winner.

    It was Quadri who started the rout against ADC Ponta do Pargo with a 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-8) bashing of Énio Mendes to give Sporting the confidence going into the second match.

    Portuguese international, Diogo Carvalho increased the lead for Sporting with another 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-4) bashing of Nigeria-born Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu.

    The partnership of Bode Abiodun and João Monteiro completed the 3-0 rout for Sporting as they defeated the duo of Idowu and Nigeria’s Jide Ogidiolu with a 3-1 ((11-7, 14-12, 8-11, 14-12).

    Since joining Sporting two seasons ago, Aruna Quadri has been instrumental to the team dominance of the Portuguese league winning everything at stake as well as becoming the first Portuguese team to feature in the ETTU Champions League and also achived a new feat by making it to the quarterfinal of the championship.

    An elated Quadri said after the victory that he was happy winning the title again with Sporting, adding that this would boost the team’s confidence ahead of this week’s Champions League quarterfinal tie against a French team.

    “I am happy that we were able to retain this title because we worked hard for the title.

    It was not an easy win because every team in the league is now getting quality players and I must thank the management of Sporting for the huge support. We will be playing the first leg of the ETTU Champions League this week against France’s

    Stella Sporta La Romagne and I hope that the win would help our confidence going into the Champions League quarterfinal match on Friday,” Quadri said.

     

     

     

  • Africa Top 16 : Quadri, Assar take rivalry to Kenya

    Africa Top 16 : Quadri, Assar take rivalry to Kenya

     

    The two best players in Africa will re-ignite their rivalry again at the 2018 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup as Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar will be aiming for the ITTF World Cup slot in astern African nation of Kenya.

    As the defending champion, Aruna Quadri who is ranked 20 n the world will be up against Omar Assar rated 16 at the epic tournament holding at the Moi International Sports Stadium, Kasarani indoor Gymnasium in Nairobi.

    In 2017, it was Quadri who laughed best beating Omar Assar 4-3 at the ITTF Africa Cup held in Agadir, Morocco to seal the continental ticket to the 2017 World Cup held in Liege, Belgium.

    Aside Assar, Quadri will be up against another Egyptian warlord, Ahmed Saleh who also qualified based on his world rating.

    Also, Egypt’s Dina Meshref will have her hands full against informed Nigeria’s duo of Olufunke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong as the African games gold medalist aims to hold on to the title she won last year.

    ITTF tournament is also making a return to Kenya 29 years after the Central African nation hosted an international last in 1989. The best 32 players (16 men and 16 women) will converge in Nairobi on March 1 to 3 for the tournament which serves as qualifiers for the ITTF World Cups.

    According to the President of Kenya table Tennis Association (KTTA), Andrew Mudibo, Kenyans are ready to stage one of the continent’s prestigious tournament.

    “90 percent of the preparations has already been completed and we are remaining with just a few lose ends to tie up. The venue that will host the tournament is the Moi International Sports Stadium, Kasarani indoor Gymnasium in Nairobi and the Kenya Government through our Ministry of Sports are fully committed in Kenya putting up a strong event and their support is in several areas that we have requested them to come in. This process is continuous,” he said.

    On the eagerness of Kenyans to watch the best of the continent, the KTTA boss said: “Many Kenyans who you talk to are looking forward to watching the best players in Africa.

    This is good for us as most of the times it is the strong sports like football, rugby and athletics that draw large crowds but this time round we hope the Kenyan fans will be able to come and be part of the legacy that this tournament will leave behind and Kenya Table Tennis Association will go all out to publicize the event to the Kenyan public for them to come and enjoy the games.

    We shall also be giving access to schools to bring their students to watch and maybe one of them will pick up the sport and be the next Segun Toriola,Quadri Aruna, Omar Assar or even Olufunke Oshonaike.”

  • Quadri ends 2017 at 21 in latest ITTF ranking

    Quadri ends 2017 at 21 in latest ITTF ranking

    Aruna Quadri set a new personal record for Nigeria and himself as the Nigerian is now ranked 21 in the end-of-the-year ITTF ranking released on Thursday December 7 by the world table tennis ruling body.

    Quadri now dwarfed his best of 25th in the ranking to displace Egypt’s Omar Assar as the continent’s best ranked player in the world.

    Despite not matching up the record set by Egypt’s Omar Assar as the first African ranked among top 20 in the world, Quadri ends the year as the highest ranked African in the latest rating.

    Following her victories over top ranked players at the Swedish Open, Quadri amassed 50 points to improve from 2457 to 2507points to be rated 21 in the world ranking.

    Prior to this latest ranking, the best achieved by Quadri in the world rating was 25 and with this, he has set a new record for Nigeria and himself.

    However, the inactiveness of Omar Assar may have affected his rating, as the Egyptian dropped from 20 to 26 in the latest ranking.

    For the President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Ishaku Tikon, the feat is commendable as Quadri continues to put Nigeria and Africa on the world map with his scintillating performance at global stage. “We are excited about this latest ranking and this goes to show that our efforts are paying off and what we just need to do is to ensure we unearth and nurture more players like Quadri. Also the young players should take a cue from Quadri in terms of his diligent, professionalism and dedication to the trade. I hope and believe they can follow his footsteps in their career to make it to the top,” the NTTF boss said.

    In the women’s ranking, Egypt’s Dina Meshref dropped to 110 from 92 but she still remains Africa’s best ranked female player in the world while Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike inactiveness at global level continues to rub off positively on her world ranking as she dropped from 227 to 262 in the latest rating.

  • Aruna Quadri  leads Sporting to Poland 

    Aruna Quadri  leads Sporting to Poland 

    Having been named Sportsman of the Year at both the 2017 Nigeria Sports Award and New Telegraph Award, Portugal-based Aruna Quadri believes the gongs would motivate him to work harder to achieve more for the country.

    Also on Thursday November 30, Quadri will be leading Sporting to Poland in a consolation match against Poland’s Dartom Bogoria in round five of the ETTU Champions League.

    The 2014 ITTF World Player of the Year expressed appreciation to Nigerians for considering him worthy of the awards while thanking the organisers of the awards for their support with the laurels.

    “I must thank God for all the awards that have come my way this year and I am motivated to continue to put Nigeria on the world map. I am so excited that my efforts are being recognised by Nigerians and I must also thank them for their unflinching support particularly after my performance at the 2017 Nigeria Open. There is no doubt that I have been motivated by their support to do well at the Bulgaria, Polish and Swedish Opens.  These are awards I will forever cherish in my career and I hope I can reciprocate the gesture by doing my best in order to continue to raise Nigeria’s flag globally,” Quadri said.

    The Oyo State-born athlete also expressed appreciation to the Chairman and Board of Premier Lotto for their support while admitting that there singular gesture had afforded him the opportunity to feature in several competitions across the globe. “Before Premier Lotto came on board, it was not that easy funding myself to attend competitions but with their support, I have been able to attend several major competitions across the globe and this has given me the opportunity to play against the best. There is nothing more honourable than being supported and recognized by your own people and this alone has indeed fired me up at several competitions to excel,” the 2017 Polish Open champion added.

    The Rio 2016 Olympic Games quarterfinalist is hoping that he can end this year’s ranking in a respectable position following his quarterfinal berth at the Swedish Open.

  • Aruna in last 16 of Swedish Open

    Aruna in last 16 of Swedish Open

    Aruna Quadri caused a big upset in the main draw of the Swedish Open after a convincing 4-2 win over world number 12, Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting.
    The Nigerian ranked 27 will now face world number 17, Portugal’s Marcos Freitas in the second round of the men’s singles on Friday November 17.
    In the men’s doubles, Quadri partnered Portugal’s Diogo Carvalho and they fought their way from the preliminary round to the main draw after recording two major victories over their Swedish and Czech Republic counterparts.

  • Quadri berths in main draw of Swedish Open

    Aruna Quadri progressed to the main draw of the Swedish Open after a 4-2 win over Hong Kong’s Kit Kwan Ho in the knockout stage of the preliminary round of men’s singles.
    Having topped Group 7 of the group matches, Aruna Quadri got a bye to the last 32 of the knockout stage of preliminary.
    In the encounter against the southpaw Hong Kong star, Quadri played with a lot of caution by ensuring that he forced his opponent to dance to his tube.
    Even when it was 2-2, Quadri never gave up forcing his opponent into duece 10-10 and the game stretched with Quadri winning the game at 15-13 to take a 3-2 lead.
    Spurred by this crucial win, Quadri played the sixth game with precision and this frustrated his opponent to lose at 11-4 to hand the Nigerian a 4-2 win and advancement to the main draw which serves off on Thursday November 16.
    Quadri is expected to be paired against one of the top 16 seeded players.
  • Quadri gets Greek, Swedish opponents in preliminary round

    Quadri gets Greek, Swedish opponents in preliminary round

  • Aruna Quadri shoots up to 27 in latest ITTF ranking

    Aruna Quadri shoots up to 27 in latest ITTF ranking

    Winning the 2017 Polish Open coupled with his performance at the ITTF World Cup in Belgium, Aruna Quadri has returned to the elite rating in the November 2017 ITTF ranking as the Nigerian moved from 36 to be ranked 27 in the world.

    Quadri, who became the first African to win an ITTF title outside the continent after claiming the men’s singles at the Polish Open gained more points from his Poland victory as well as mopped up points from his qualification to the main draw at the ITTF World Cup in Liege, Belgium.

    From 2434 points he had in October to be ranked 36, Aruna Quadri garnered 23 points from his performance in October to be ranked 27 in November with 2457 points. The support from Premier Lotto may have started paying off for the 2014 ITTF Star Player with this latest world rating.

    Just like he did in 2016 when he finished the year in top 30, Aruna Quadri is inching closer to this feat again this year but there are still indications that he might gain points at the forthcoming German Open holding later this month in Magdeburg.

    Also, Egypt’s Omar Assar still hold on to the zenith in Africa as the Egyptian moved a step up from 21 to 21 despite losing to lower ranked player at the ITTF World Cup.

    Omar Assar dropped points from 2528 to 2513 but still managed to rise to 20 in the latest rating released on Wednesday November 1 by the world table tennis ruling body.

    Despite losing to  Germany’s Timo Boll in the semifinal of the ITTF World Cup by settling for the bronze medal, China’s Ma Long holds grip to the top of the ranking as world number while winner of the ITTF World Cup, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov achieved the biggest ranking in his career after moving to the third spot in the latest ranking.

    World Cup runner’s up, Germany’s Timo Boll moved to fourth place in the ranking while France’s Simon Gauzy continued his steady rise in the rating as the Frenchman moved from 13 to eighth place in the ranking to halt the dominance of Asians in the ranking. Among the top 10 players ranked in the world, Europe has three players while Asia has seven.

    In the women’s ranking, for the first time in her career that China’s Zhu Yuling has headed the list, she replaces compatriot – Ding Ning, the reigning Olympic and World champion whose name no long appears owing to a recent absence from the international scene.

    The effect is that there is a climb of one place for China’s duo of Chen Meng and Liu Shiwen. Chen Meng is now at no.2 followed by Liu Shiwen. Similarly it is one position higher for the next three names in the order of merit. Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa is now at no.4 followed by Japanese compatriots – Miu Hirano and Mima Ito.

    Efforts of Egypt’s Dina Meshref at the 2017 ITTF Women’s World were rewarded, as the African champion moved from no.103 to no.92.