Top-ranked Nigeria Table Tennis player, Aruna Quadri, has crashed out of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Cup ongoing in Lagos
Quadri was beaten on Monday by his fierce Egyptian rival, Omar Assar, in a keenly-contested semi-final contest.
Although Quadri won the 3rd set to trail Assar 2-1 and looked like staging a comeback, the Egyptian got the psychological edge winning the 4th set, going on to beat Quadri 4-1(11-6, 11-7, 3-11, 11-7, 11-3) to progress to the final of men’s singles.
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Quadri had advanced to the semi-final after giving it all to overcome Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw 4-3 while Assar avoided another defeat against Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo as the Egyptian star avenged his 2-3 loss in the Club Championship with a convincing 4-2 win.
It is interesting to note that despite the huge followership he commands, Quadri has never beaten Assar in Lagos in his career.
The ITTF Africa Cup is one of the biggest table tennis event on the continent.