Tired Aruna Quadri Seeks Redemption At ITTF Finals
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – Still smarting from his disappointing performance at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Men’s World Cup, Nigeria’s leading light in the game, Aruna Quadri is now seeking to redeem himself in Zhengzhou, China.
Tagged the Bank of Communications 2020 ITTF Finals, the tournament is slated to run from November 19 to 22 in Zhengzhou, a metropolis on the Yellow River and the capital of East-central China’s Henan province.
This is the third event of the #RESTART Series, which signified the return of table tennis after the COVID-19 global lockdown. Invited participants are the top 16 players of each gender on the ITTF ranking list who will lock horns in men’s and women’s singles competition.
As stake is the highly sought-after world ranking points and a prize purse of $500,000. The draws will take place on Wednesday November 18 at JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou.
At the World Cup held in Weihai, China, Aruna failed to progress beyond the first round after losing 1-4 to Germany’s Patrick Franziska and 2-4 to Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic.
Reflecting on his unimpressive showing, a disappointed Aruna told NationSport; “I think I was a bit tired after playing with every strength in me in the first match against the German and this really affected me in the second game.
“I have put this competition behind me and I am looking forward to the ITTF Finals which begin on Thursday; I hope I can do well in the finals to compensate for my early exit in the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, China’s Fan Zhendong won his third-consecutive ITTF Men’s World Cup title, courtesy of a thrilling 4-3 ‘China derby’ victory over three-time Olympic table tennis champion Ma Long in Weihai.
Fan also became only the second player to win four World Cup titles in the 40-year-old history of the event, tying the record set by Chinese table tennis legend Ma Lin.
Winning 14 out of 18 head-to-heads with Fan in ITTF competitions, Ma lost in their last two meetings. The Grand Slam winner opened with a 4-0 run on Sunday night and took the first set 11-3.
