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  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Toriola trudge on as tournament enters crucial stage

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Toriola trudge on as tournament enters crucial stage

    Nigeria’s duo ofAruna Quadri and Segun Toriola had easy passage to the second round of the ongoing ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup after winning their group matches in Khartoum, Sudan yesterday.

    The tournament, which serves as qualifiers to determine the players (men and women) that will represent Africa at the 2016 ITTF World Cups, has 32 players competing in the men and women events.

    Quadri  maintained 100 per cent with victories over Togo’s Mawussi Agbetoglo, Algeria’s Aissa Belkaddi and Sudan’s Mohamed Nadir to top the group and advanced to the knockout stage.

    Also, Toriola was in fine form with wins over Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu, Algeria’s Soudes Alassani and Ghana’s Derek Abrefa to Berth in the knockout stage.

    Egypt’s duo of Omar Assar and El-Sayed Lashin also maintained their status with 100 per cent wins.

    In the women’s event, the likes of Nigeria’s Edem Offiong, Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing and Egypt’s pair of Dina Meshref recorded outright victories in their matches to progress to the knockout stage.

    Meanwhile, the tournament’s number one seed, Egypt’s Omar Assar told SportingLife that he is not under any pressure to win the tournament ahead of others.

    “I feel no pressure at all because I am one of the youngest players at the tournament and I am looking forward to show a good performance.”

    “I am very excited for Sudan as first Continental tournament in 2016 and it will be my first visit to Sudan as well. 2015 was full of African events and all went well for me and  very successful as I wish Sudan will follow the same way and even better performance,” he said.

    With his performance at the 2015 ITTF World Cup in Sweden, Omar Assar is eager to return to the big stage this year. “Sure the World Cup is a great tournament to play and I would love to repeat my experience once more after playing well in Halmstad, Sweden in 2015.”

    Apart from aiming for the title in Sudan, Omar Assar believes the tournament can help him to assess his preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympics. “Sudan is a big part of my way to the Rio 2016 Olympics. So it is important to measure my practice and preparation in the last few months.”

  • Ahead off ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup:Quadri, Assar are favourites – Idowu

    Ahead off ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup:Quadri, Assar are favourites – Idowu

     

    Despite dumping his native country – Nigeria to play for his adopted nation – Congo Brazzaville in the last one decade, Saheed Idowu still believes Aruna Quadri and his arch-rival – Egypt’s Omar Assar are favourites for the title at the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup.

    Idowu, who edged out Seun Ajetunmobi in the round of 16 of the 2015 African Games told Sport ingLife from his base in Portugal that he would not mind halting the ‘status quo’ in Khartoum.

    “Everybody is a good player but we have some tougher ones like Aruna Quadri, Egypt’s Omar Assar and El-Sayed Lashin and not forgetting the old warlords, Segun Toriola and Saka Suraju who are very experienced. But I think all of them will see the best of table tennis in Sudan. But on paper and records Quadri and Assar are the title contenders because of their present forms in most of the tournaments they have featured this year. But I am also ready to turn the tide against them,” he added.

    For more than nine months in 2015, Idowu spent most of his days in Hubei, China where they (Congo Brazzaville) honed their skills prior to the 2015 African Games.

    When the games ended in Brazzaville last September, their months of training paid off as Congo Brazzaville beat Egypt and Nigeria to the overall medals at the multi-sports tournament.

    Having played professional in Sweden, Idowu decided to move to Portugal where he now plays for GD Toledos in the Portuguese elite league and few days to the kick off of the 2016 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup in Sudan, the Nigeria-born Congolese is full of optimistm that the tide will turn to his side this time.

    But he is aware of the task ahead of him. “My expectations are to go to Sudan and perform well. But I am totally sure that I will perform well because I have been training in my club for weeks in order to be in top shape for the championship,” he said.

    “In Africa, we know ourselves very well and there is no much difference in our style of play. Also table tennis is nobody’s game as it depends on your current form during any competition.”

    In readiness for the task awaiting him in Khartoum come February 14 to 15,  Idowu said: “Having been selected based on ranking in Africa, I have been tuning up for weeks in my club in Portugal and my teammates have been helpful and I hope this will aid my performance in Sudan.”

  • Ahead of ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri must be wary of Suraju

    Ahead of ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri must be wary of Suraju

    Among the aged top table tennis players in Africa, Saka Suraju of Congo Brazzaville is considered second to Segun Toriola of Nigeria. Having played the game more than two decades and participating in various competitions, the Nigeria-born athlete believes the likes of Aruna Quadri, Omar Assar and others should expect surprise at the 2016 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup holding  in Khartoum, Sudan

    With Toriola a year older than Saka Suraju and the 39 -year-old 2008 African champion believes he is not going to be a title pretender when the tournament serves off in Khartoum later this month.

    Without any doubt, Saka Suraju is endowed with a lot of experience having fought so many ‘wars’ both in Africa and at global level. He is no push-over in the continent while his record in 2008 when he became the continent’s number one ping ponger ahead of others.

    He was no where the men’s singles title when playing in front of the home fans at the 2015 African Games as he was shown the exit by Ahmed Saleh in the round of 16. But he enjoyed success in the doubles with some medals to show for his efforts.

    As usual an elated Saka Suraju said he would love to make another appearance at the ITTF World Cup this year but he is aware of the tasks ahead of him in Sudan.

    “I am very happy again to make another appearance at the ITTF Top 16 Cup and by God’s grace I will do well in Sudan. My target is to perform well. But I must admit that every tournament in Africa is becoming tougher because of the quality of players we now have. But the likes of Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar should be ready for surprise in Sudan because I am not going there to be a participant but title contender,” he boasted.

    Like an old warlord, Saka Suraju said he has not been in top shape after the African Games but he believes his years of experience will come to four against some of the youthful stars in Sudan.

    “I must confess that I have not been preparing well for the tournament but with my experience and God’s grace, I hope to do better than my last outing. I have featured at the ITTF World Cup in 2009 in Germany and I am looking forward to make another appearance in 2016,” he added.

  • ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Assar lead African stars to German Open

    ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Assar lead African stars to German Open

    • Joola gets German coach for Nigerian

    Africa’s best table tennis players, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar will lead 15 other African players to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour tagged German Open holding in Berlin from January 27 to 31.

    As the first Super series among the six in the ITTF World calendar, the German Open boasts $120,000 prize money with some of the world’s best including world number one, China’s Ma Long will be competing at the five-day tournament.

    Also to ensure that Aruna Quadri has a good outing in the competition, table tennis kits firm, Joola has engaged the services of former German coach, Martin Aldomeit, who handled the 2014 ITTF Star Player at the 2014 World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany.

    Quadri, who recently made it to the last eight of the Hungarian Open is in fine shape for the tournament and he will also partner compatriot, Bode Abiodun in the doubles and they will be hoping for a good outing just like they got to the quarter-final at the Hungarian Open in Budapest.

    Egypt has the largest number of players from Africa competing at the German Open with Omar Assar being joined by veterans like El-Sayed Lashin and Ahmed Saleh as well as Mohammed El-Beiali and Khalid Assar.

    In the draw conducted yesterday by the organisers, Nigeria’s Abiodun will begin his campaign against France’s Romain Lorentz, while Quadri will begin his battle from the second round against Chinese Taipei’s Chia-Shengto Lee.

  • Quadri finishes in top eight at Hungarian Open

    Quadri finishes in top eight at Hungarian Open

    • Moves to German Open

    Aruna Quadri had the best outing in his first International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour in 2016 as the 2014 ITTF Star Player finished among the top eight players in the men’s singles of the just concluded Hungarian Open.

    Unlike in the previous editions that Quadri could not move beyond the first round, the Oyo State-born athlete also hurt the home fans when he bundled out the only surviving Hungarian, Daniel Kosiba in the round of 16 tie of the competition.

    Starting his campaign from the main draw after being seeded number six among the 32 rated players for the tournament, Quadri was in fine form from the first round bashing Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 11-7,12-10,11-4,15-13 (4-0). He progressed by edging out the competition’s number 24 seed, Czech’s Tomas Konecny 11-4,11-5,11-8,8-11,11-5 (4-1).

    In front of the home crowd coupled with the vociferous noise of the fans, Quadri never succumbed to these as he was merciless against home boy, Daniel Kosiba in the round of the 16 encounter with a 11-7,3-11,11-7,11-9,11-5 (4-1) whitewash to advance to the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.

    Defeat for Daniel Kosiba, on the afternoon of  January 23, ended the host nation’s aspirations at the 2016 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open in Budapest; the last man standing he was beaten by the Nigerian. The only crumb of consolation for Daniel Kosiba is that it was a far better result than one year ago. At the 2015 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open, he was beaten in the first round of the Men’s Singles event by Belgium’s Cédric Nuytinck.

    However, Quadri’s good run was thwarted by France’s Simon Gauzy, the number three seed. He accounted for Quadri, in a six games encounter (13-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6).

    Similarly, Simon Gauzy once again held the upper hand when facing Quadri as it was at the same stage at the 2015 ITTF World Tour Czech Open in Olomouc, Simon Gauzy had prevailed in six games over the Nigerian.

    “It would have been great to change that result but I’m not too disappointed as I consider him to be a great player. His serves were extremely hard to receive: I made too many small mistakes and unforced errors,”said Quadri Aruna.

    In the men’s doubles, Quadri combined with his compatriot, Bode Abiodun and they started their campaign from the qualifying round to make it to the quarterfinal where they fell to the skills of Chinese Taipei’s duo of Chih-Yuan Chuang and Sheng-Sheng Huang 10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11 (3-1). They had caused an upset in the first round when they edged out number five seed, Brazil’s pair of Cazuo Matsumoto and Thiago Monteiro 9-11, 9-11, 10-12 (3-0).

    Quadri and Abiodun will be heading to Berlin for the German Open which serves off on January 27.

  • French League: Quadri humiliates Assar to lift Jura Morez to seventh place

    French League: Quadri humiliates Assar to lift Jura Morez to seventh place

    This year, Aruna Quadri has played second fiddle to Omar Assar in continental tournaments but last week in the Premier division of French Table Tennis League, Quadri mesmerised Assar to take his team, Jura Morez to seventh place on the league table.

    Out of the four titles won by Assar this year, three of them were at the expense of Quadri with the last being the men’s singles laurel at the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

    However, Quadri has put the losses behind him and as a professional who understood the dynamism of sport, the 2014  ITTF Star Player showed his class against Assar as both players led their teams – Jura Morez and Istres in the league encounter hosted by Jura Morez.

    The encounter provided another opportunity for  Africa’s two  best players to test might and showed supremacy against each other.

    But it was Quadri’s teammate, Zhen Wang that drew the first blood against French international, Benjamin Brossier with the Chinese-born star winning 11-4, 11-3, 11-8 to give Jura Morez a 1-0 lead.

    The onus of increasing the lead now rested on Quadri when he battled Assar in the second game and the two players threw caution to the wind to give the spectators something to cheer.

    As if Quadri wanted to revenge the defeats he has suffered in the hand of the Egyptian, the Nigerian wasted no time in humiliating Assar 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 for Jura Morez to take a 2-0 lead.

    Andre Sliva compounded the woe of Istres when he walloped Paul Gauzy 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 to keep the encounter beyond their opponent.

    As the star player of Istres, Assar returned to the table to restore his team’s hope but he met his waterloo against Zhen Wang who completed the rout at 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 to record the fastest win in the history of the French league.

    In an unsportsmanship attitude, Assar left the venue without the usual embrace of opponents synonymous with sports. Aside this, he also abandoned his team to the disappointment of everybody at the venue.

    However, Quadri described the victory as a boost to his team, while describing the win against Assar as a confirmation of his improvement since joining the French League.

    “I am happy not because I beat Assar but that my team was able to escape the relegation zone and move to seventh place in the league. This is a major victory for us even as we look forward to our next match on Monday December 21 against fourth place side – Boulogne Billancourt, which has England international, Paul Drinkhall in its fold. We hope we can maintain our stand to 2016,” Quadri said.

  • Quadri leads Morez’s relegation battle

    Quadri leads Morez’s relegation battle

    Despite spirited efforts by 2014 ITTF Star Player, Aruna Quadri to inspire Morez Jura’s charge for the title in the elite French Table Tennis League, the Nigerian will however,  lead the team’s relegation battle in today’s encounter against Rouen.

    From the five league matches played by Morez Jura this season, the team is yet to record any victory despite Quadri’s fine form in all his matches.

    Twice, the team was unlucky to lose 4-2 in their previous matches and they will have to redouble their efforts as they begin the quest to escape being relegated to the lower division.

    Morez Jura is now rooted at the bottom of the league table with five points while Pontoise-Cergy tops with 15 points.

    A determined Quadri told SportingLife yesterday that the team is poised to record its first victory in the league this season. “We are confined to win this match because our fans are really looking forward to the victory. We have been unlucky in our previous matches and tomorrow (today) we will ensure we give our fans the excitement they have been looking forward to since the season started a few months ago,” Quadri said.

    The 2015 African Games silver medalist added: “I think playing in the French league has really exposed me to a lot of new techniques in the game. I must admit that it is only the best that plays in the league because some of the world’s best are plying their trade in the league. It has not been easy at all because everybody is playing good and for me, my team is still in contention for the title but for now we must battle to remain in the top division. The match against Rouen is a must win for us and I am sure we will win.”

  • ITTF World Tour Finals: Quadri misses out

    ITTF World Tour Finals: Quadri misses out

    Despite attending eight ITTF World Tours in three continents, 2014 ITTF Star Player, Aruna Quadri failed to make the list of 16 invited players for the World Tour finals holding in Lisbon, Portugal.

    Having attended more tournaments this year, Quadri with 121 points to occupy 42nd place was conspicuously missing from the list of top players listed for the championship.

    Aside Quadri, African champion, Egypt’s Omar Assar also failed to make the cut despite garnering 187points from attending six ITTF World Tours in three continents. He was listed number 30th and with this, no African player made the list of 16 players that will compete at the mouth-watering finals in Portugal next month.

    Meanwhile, the invitation list for the 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to be staged in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon from Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th December is now known.

    Following the close of play on Sunday 15th November at the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Swedish Open in Stockholm any questions as to who would fill the last available places were resolved.

    At the start of play on Friday 13th November the Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles top pairs were already clear.

    In the Men’s Doubles event there was still a possibility for the Swedish duo of Kristian Karlsson and Mattias Karlsson but a first round exit dashed any slight hopes.

    It was the very same in the Women’s Doubles event: Singapore’s Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu had aspirations but as with the Swedes a first round reverse dashed hopes.

    In the Men’s Singles event, Japan’s Kenta Matsudaira harboured slight hopes of gaining the last place, as in the counterpart Women’s Singles competition did his colleague Sayaka Hirano.

    However, third round defeats on Saturday 14th November ended any possibilities of finishing in one of the qualification places.

    In all instances there were rather more theoretical options than realistic chances; the one very real chance was in the Under 21 Men’s Singles event where Hong Kong’s Ho Kwan Kit needed to reach the final to dislodge Japan’s Kohei Sambe.

    Alas for Hong Kong, after holding match points, he was beaten at the semi-final stage by the champion elect, Tristan Flore of France.

  • ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Onaolapo brace up for Swedish Open

    ITTF World Tour: Quadri, Onaolapo brace up for Swedish Open

    After a disappointing start to his campaign in the French League, Aruna Quadri and his compatriot, Ojo Onaolapo are at present bracing up for this month’s International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour tagged Swedish Open.

    From the three league matches played by his French team, Jura Morez this season, Quadri was on the losing side but the 2014 ITTF Star Player managed to win one of his matches. However, his team was on the team losing side in their third league game against Pontoise-Cergy.

    The Oyo State-born Quadri has put this behind him while hoping for a better outing in the forthcoming Swedish Open holding in Stockholm.

    Despite dropping to 50 from 45 in the latest ITTF ranking, Quadri has been seeded 22 in the men’s singles event of the Swedish Open and he will partner Onaolapo in the men’s doubles for the tournament.

    At present, Quadri has helped his Portuguese club, Sporting Lisbon to top the league table in the Portuguese league having won all their four matches this season, while the return of the Portuguese Super Cup to Lisbon has been firing the team to aim for the title this season.

    A confident Quadri believes taking part in the Swedish Open would help him to improve his rating for the December  ranking while hoping to remain at the top 50 in the world.

    The next league match for Quadri’s French team is at home against Garde Du Voeu Hennebon on November 17.

    Onaolapo’s last major tournament was at the last African Games in Brazzaville where he was edged out in the quarterfinal by Egypt’s Khalid Assar for him to miss out from the Olympics slots.

    Onaolapo will commence his campaign at the Swedish Open on Wednesday from the preliminary round where he will slug it out for a place in the main draw, while Quadri will kick-start his title chase from the main draw having been seeded among the 32 top players in the world.

  • Quadri, Assar finish in top eight of men’s doubles

    Quadri, Assar finish in top eight of men’s doubles

    The partnership of Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar in the men’s doubles of the ITTF World Tour tagged Polish Open inscribed Africa in the annals of history as the two best players from the continent finished among the top eight at the tournament.

    Quadri and Assar started their campaigns from the preliminary stage where they shocked teams from India, France, and Hungary to qualify to the main draw of 16 teams.

    However, the prowess took them further in the main draw when they caused one of the upsets as they defeated number seven seed duo of Portugal’s Marcos Freitas  and Croatia’s Andrej Gacina, 11-4, 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 to set up a quarterfinal tie against another giant-killing duo of Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia and João Monteiro.

    Apolonia and Monteiro had accounted for the exit of number two seed, China’s Zhan Jike and Fan Zhendong in the round of 16. But Quadri and Assar could not withstand the fiery style and pace of the Europeans as they succumbed 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 to be among the top eight in the men’s doubles.

    In the men’s singles, African champion, Assar who has been seeded among the top 32 and playing from the main draw could not play more than a match as he fell 4-3 to Russia’s Alexander Shibaev.

    Unlike Assar, Quadri made Nigeria proud when he displayed exceptional skills against Sweden’s KARLSSON Kristian with a 4-0 (11-7,11-6,11-9,11-9) bashing of the Swedish star.

    But the 2014 ITTF star player was unlucky to have been drawn in the same line with world number two and tournament number two seed, China’s Xu Xin. As expected Quadri was no match to the Chinese star as he was walloped 4-11,4-11,4-11,7-11 to exit to the men’s single in the second round as the most successful African in the tournament.

    Meanwhile, Quadri has described his partnership with his continental rival as the best, while yearning for more collaboration with the Egyptian.