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Tag: Aruna Quadri

  • ETTU Champions League: Quadri leads Sporting

    ETTU Champions League: Quadri leads Sporting

    Few days after competing at the just concluded ITTF World Cup, Aruna Quadri will return to the big stage as he leads Portugal’s Sporting against defending champion – Russia’s Fakel Gazprom in the round of three of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League in Moscow tomorrow.

    With a repeat match against Japan’s Jun Mizutani, Quadri will be hoping for a revenge against the Japanese who bundled him out of the ITTF World Cup in Liege, Belgium.

    Already, Quadri has confirmed to NationSport that he hopes to raise his game against the world number seven when both players battle on Friday.

    “I think I now know how to play him when we clash again because I was not expected when he played against him at the World Cup. Even if he is going to defeat me, it will be as easy as he did in Belgium. It promises to be exciting as I am also hoping for revenge against the Japanese. Also, the current World Cup Champion – Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov will also be part of the encounter as the German will be leading the Russian side against us. It is going to be explosive as we want to maintain our unbeaten run in the competition,” Quadri said.

    According to ETTU, when reigning champion Fakel Gazprom faces debutant Sporting, fans in Russian TT Center in Orenburg will have opportunity to see the newly-crowned ITTF Men’s World Cup Champion, Dimitrij Ovtcharov. German player won its very first World Cup title last Sunday in Liège, after defeating his compatriot Timo Boll in the final.

    “Dreams come true, I won the World Cup for the first time, and it means so much to me! I had a long way to win this title”, stressed Dimitrij Ovtcharov who won each of four Orenburg`s TTCLM title.

    Fakel Gazprom`s head coach Victor Andreev emphasized that all people in the club “are proud that the player of the Russian club Fakel-Gazprom Dimitrij Ovtcharov won the World Cup in 2017.

    For the encounter against Sporting, which has Aruna Quadri, the Russian coach said: “The upcoming match against the Portuguese club will be very stressful for both teams. Practically, the fate of the first place in our group is decided. Our rival is a strong team. They proved it in previous matches. Orenburg club Fakel-Gazprom is aimed only at victory. We wish everyone good luck in the upcoming round of the Champions League”, stated Victor Andreev.

  • Quadri commands respect among top players – Adomeit

    Quadri commands respect among top players – Adomeit

    After cornering Aruna Quadri to the main draw of the 2017 ITTF World Cup, Coach Martin Adomeit believes with the quality of the Nigerian, he now commands respect among the top players in the world.

    He however, charged the 2014 ITTF Star Player not to be complacent but continue to work harder in order to be among the top 10 players in the world.

    The former German national coach told NationSport in Liege, Belgium that he was always willing to handle Quadri as he makes coaching smooth with his style of play.

    “I believe Quadri has the potential to be among the top 10 in the world because he is now being respected globally by top players. His style of play is unique to him particularly his ferocious backhand which most players find difficult to control. From the last time i coached him, i noticed he has improved in his backhand but he still lacks confidence in using it. He must trust his backhand for him to use it well. I think in the main draw match against Japan’s Jun Mizutani, he played better than the group matches. But he still needs to know how to return service and work more on his own service. All these matter at big stage and these are areas he still needs to improve upon,” he said.

    The erstwhile Belgium technical adviser added: “I just admit that Quadri did not enjoy himself because he was not having fun. I could remember his performance at the 2014 edition of the competition, he played with fun and this matters to him. He must play with positive emotion and this is his strength on table. He is very fast player on table and this is another advantage that he has over other players. I think for him to have gotten to the quarterfinal stage of the Olympic Games, he has the quality to make it to the medal zone but he must work harder and forget about his win at the Polish Open and remain focus.”

     

  • I watched several videos of Quadri, says Japanese star

    I watched several videos of Quadri, says Japanese star

  • Quadri and I have raised table tennis – Assar

    Quadri and I have raised table tennis – Assar

    Omar Assar of Egypt is indeed excited that Africa is presenting two players for this year’s ITTF World Cup in Liege, Belgium and the 2015 African Games champion believes this development has confirmed that the continent is making giant stride in table tennis.

    Assar, who is in Group C alongside Russia’s Alexander Shibaev and Belgium’s Cedric Nuytinck in the first round of the tournament which serves off today at the Country Hall in Liege told NationSport yesterday at the official hotel of the competition – Park Inn that being the first time Africa will be having two players competing at the World Cup, this has shown that Africa is not a pushover globally in table tennis.

    “I think having two African players at the World Cup is no child’s play as it is a long years of hardwork from the players. Unlike before when for years, we have only one player emerging from the hundreds of players in Africa competing either at the African Cup or Top 16 Cup. This goes to show that Quadri and I have raised the profile of Africa in global table tennis as everybody now see the continent as among the best in the world. I am so happy and I just hope we can make things happen in the tournament but I must be sincere that it is the best 20 players in the world that are competing and we should not too complacent but play our best against the best to be able to make some points in the tournament,” Assar said.

    The Egyptian believes the training he had in Dusseldorf, Germany has prepared well for the championship as he hopes to advance from the group. “I have prepared very well for this tournament in Dusseldorf and I am optimistic that with the training I can do well by first of all qualifying from the group,” he added.

  • Quadri gets tricky draw, battles Korean, American stars

    Quadri gets tricky draw, battles Korean, American stars

  • Aruna Quadri Employs German Coach for T/Tennis World Cup

    Aruna Quadri Employs German Coach for T/Tennis World Cup

    Aruna Quadri, Africa’s highest-ranked table tennis player, has acquired the services of a coach to manage him ahead of the forthcoming International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Cup in Belgium.

    Quadri named the coach as former Germany national coach Martin Adomeit on his twitter handle @AQttennis on Sunday.

    The table tennis star who recently won the ITTF Challenge Polish Open tweeted that it would be a reunion for the two since 2015.

    “Former German national coach Martin Adomeit returns to coach Aruna at the 2017 @ittfworld Cup holding from Oct. 20 to Oct. 22 in Liege.

    “This will be a reunion between the two since 2015 when Adomeit was team coach at the All-Africa Games in Congo-Brazzaville,’’ the tweet reads.

    The German helped Quadri become the first-ever African to reach the quarter-finals of the ITTF 2014 World Cup held in Duesseldorf, Germany.

    Quadri had defeated his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar, in the final of the 2017 ITTF Africa Cup earlier in the year to qualify for the event.

  • Nigeria Sports Award hails Eagles, Quadri,

    Nigeria Sports Award hails Eagles, Quadri,

    Organisers of Nigerian Sports Award,(NSA) have lauded The Super Eagles for securing  the World Cup ticket after beating Zambia by one goal to nil in a World Cup Qualifier held on Saturday.

    It equally commended Aruna Quadri, Nigeria number one Table Tennis champion for winning the ITTF Polish Open.The Nigerian defeated Japan’s Kaii Yoshida after six sets (11-7, 11-13 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12) to become the first African to win an ITTF title outside the continent.

    In a statement issued by the management of the award and signed by the executive member of the panel, Kayode Idowu, he expressed delight over the hard won victory even as he commended the coaching crew, the management of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF and other sports stakeholders for rallying round the team to secure the ticket.

    Similarly, the organiser praised Aruna for putting up outstanding performance at the Open that saw him emerge winner.

    Kayode said” It is most gratifying news to hear that Nigeria has eventually qualify to flag the nation’s flag in next year World Cup holding in Russia. For us in NSA, we are most excited about the piece of news. We believe achievement such as this is a clear testimony to the improvement being witnessed in football and other sports in general. We believe it can only get better as we have seen in some other sports. I think commendations should go to all the players for giving everything to earn this most coveted ticket. We must commend the team, the coaching crew for putting up a gallant fight to secure the ticket. They truly deserve all the accolades. If you follow the last few matches, you would notice the level of consistency and skillful display by the national team. The victories over other arch rivals in the group alone are pointers that Nigeria has what it takes to beat any team if there is unity of purpose and drive to succeed. By this feat, it has shown that Nigeria football and sports in general can still get back to its rightful place that we were known for. 

    While applauding the role of the management of the Nigerian Football Federation and Federal Ministry of Sport on the Super Eagle sterling performance, he tasked them to support the team by starting preparation in earnest  to avoid a repeat of our last outing at the World cup.

    According to him, with quality friendlies and adequate training, Nigeria has what it takes to surprise the world Cup by being the first African country to win the Cup

    He said’ I need to state that we cannot afford to go to sleep now that we have secured the ticket. This is the time to begin preparation for the World cup if we are really concerned about putting upa good showing or winning the World Cup at best.

    The management of the award however advised the table tennis federation to lend their support to the tennis sensation as World Cup draws near noting that Quadri needs all the backing to perform excellently.

  • Aruna Quadri Wins Polish Open

    Aruna Quadri Wins Polish Open

    Having put several disappointments behind him, Aruna Quadri showed his stuff against the world’s best as the Nigerian defied all odds to emergechampion at the ITTF Challenge tagged Polish Open.

    Having worked his way from the first round (roundof 64), Quadri showed class against pen-holder Japanese Kaii Yoshida.

    The final lived up to expectation with Quadri frustrating the Japanese with his powerful powerhand coupled with his excellent foot-work.

    To ened the dream of the Japaense qualifier who had edged out some of the top players on his way to the final, Quadri defeated his Asian counterpart 4-2 to the dlight of the Polish fans.

    The Nigerian next assignment this week is leading Portugal’s Sporting in their second group match of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League at home to a Polish side.

    Later this month, he will also be on duty at the 2017 ITTF World Cup in Liege, Belgium.

  • Quadri begins campaign at Polish Open

    Quadri begins campaign at Polish Open

    As the number one seed at the 2017 ITTF Challenge tagged Polish Open, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri will today begin hostility in the main draw of the men’s singles in his quest to claim his first global title.

    Also, Egypt’s Omar Assar has set a new African record as the best ranked player in the continent after the 2015 African Games champion climbed to 21 in the October ITTF rankign released yesterday by the world table tennis ruling body.

    With the conclusion of the preliminary round of the men and women singles at the Polish Open, the 32 seeded players will have their taste of action in the quest to share from the largesse of the tournament.

    Quadri who led Sporting to retain the Portuguese Super up at the weekend and was also part of the Sporting team that claimed their first major victory at the 2017 European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Champions League will be aiming for the title that has contineud to elude his having made it to the final of the Nigeria Open in 2015 where he eventually lost to Assar 4-2.

    However, Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo was unlcuky in his quest to make it to the main draw as he lost his two matches in the group.

    Omotayo narrowly lost 4-3 to Lithunia’s Medardas Stankevicius while he fell 4-2 to Brazil’s Cazuo Matsumoto in group four of the preliminary round of the men’s singles.

    In the ITTF ranking released yesterday, Assar climed from 31 to 21 following his exploits at the 2017 Austrian Open where he edged out some of the world’s best in the tournament. Having started his campaign from the preliminary round, Assar caused major upset to berth in the quarterfinal where he lost to his superior Chinese star.

    But his performance earned his ranking points as the amassed 91 points to achieve the best rating by an African in the hisory of table tennis.

    This development has confirmed that Assar is the best ranked African player in the world and he has displaced Aruna Quadri who dropped from 33 to 36 in the world. Aruna Quadri’s inactiveness in September may have contribued to his slide.

  • Aruna reigns over Omar Assar at ITTF Africa Cup

    Aruna reigns over Omar Assar at ITTF Africa Cup

    The years of domination by Egypt’s Omar Assar over Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri came to an on Monday, July 3 at the 2017 ITTF Africa Cup in Agadir, Morocco, as the Nigerian dug deep to beat his continental rival 4-3 to emerge as the champion in the men’s singles.

    Also, the victory qualifies Aruna Quadri to this year’s ITTF World Cup, being the second consecutive time the Nigerian will be representing Africa at the global stage.

    Despite playing without any coach, Aruna Quadri knew what was at stake in the encounter and he was calm and collected throughout the match to have an edge over the Egyptian.

    Even when he was losing vital points, Aruna Quadri showed class and even the spectators applauded the Nigerian for his conduct and professionalism during the encounter.

    To emerge as the new African Champion, Aruna Quadri defeated Omar Assar 4-3 and this Nigerian believes luck worked for him in the encounter.

    “I am so happy today that I won because it was not an easy match. I am happy that my backhand worked well in the match because I was afraid to use it against my friend – Omar Assar whom I know was in his best form this time. I think Omar Assar played and that it was just luck, today because sometimes luck plays a crucial role in matches,” Aruna Quadri told NationSport after his victory.

    The Vice President of African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Olabanji Oladapo who watched the final, described Aruna Quadri as a true ambassador of Nigeria who needs more support now.

    “I am so proud of Aruna Quadri and Funke Oshonaike because they played without coach against the Egyptians who had their coaches with them. They made the country proud and the match between Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar was highly technical and this goes to show that we need good and quality coach to handle our players because having played good players without coach and won, it is obvious that we need a more experienced coach to handle our top players. I am so proud and all my colleagues in ATTF congratulated me,” Oladapo said.