Quadri Aruna’s virtuoso displays at the WTT Frankfurt 2024 have earned him praise from the African table tennis fraternity despite bowing out of the tournament following a 3-2 defeat to German Ricardo Walther in the round of 16 on Wednesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Nigerian fought bravely but was edged by his opponents 9-11, 14-6, 11-7, 12-10 in the keenly contested men’s singles encounter at Süwag Energie Arena, drawing encomiums from all and sundry.
“Quadri Aruna may be out of WTTFrankfurt, but he left it all on the table with an incredible fight against Ricardo Walter!” the International Table Tennis Federation stated on its official X handle on Thursday.
Aruna made a winning start to his campaign on Sunday by upsetting the No. 5 seed Tomokazu Harimoto, recording a stunning comeback to win a 3-2 comeback win (7-11, 11-13, 11-5, 14-12, 11-3).
The Ibadan-born reflected on his gusty performance in a post-match press conference, saying, “At 0-2 down, I knew I was never alone. The crowd was there for me; they were supporting me and kept me going. Because of that, I never gave up. I kept fighting and fighting. I’m here to have fun, enjoy myself, and show the world that I’m one of the best from Nigeria and Africa.”
Going on a run to the Men’s Singles final at last week’s WTT Champions Montpellier 2024, Harimoto was well-backed to go on another long run in Frankfurt and couldn’t have asked for a better start to the opening day, bagging games one and two in a best of five encounters.
However, Aruna, ranked 21 in the world, who came out on top in their previous international showdown, wasn’t prepared to back down, as the 36-year-old Nigerian hit back with a big response in the third set.
Then came a pivotal moment in the match as Harimoto put distance between himself and his opponent in game four, building a 1-5 lead before moving 6-9 ahead. The Japanese star would then hold two match point opportunities at 9-10 and 10-11, but Aruna would deny him twice, forcing a decider to put the Frankfurt crowd on the edge of their seats.
Playing with all the confidence and freedom in the world, Aruna hammered away at the ball, punishing Harimoto in the fast exchanges as the wave of momentum firmly shifted in the African trailblazer’s favour.
Ripping a cracking backhand at 10-3 to put his opponent on ice, Aruna takes his place in the round of 16 draw, earning only his second-ever match win at WTT Champions level, one week on from bagging his first in Montpellier.
