Africa’s number 1 table tennis player Quadri Aruna faces a stern challenge from a familiar foe – Portugal’s Marcos Freita when they both clash in the first round of the WTT Contender Doha 2023 in Qatar later today.
Last Sunday, the world No. 14 was defeated in the quarter-final at the WTT Contender Durban in South Africa by Ukraine’s Yaroslav Zhmudenko.
Aruna is seeded as the number two player in Doha, behind the WTT Contender Durban winner, Hugo Calderano, and will need new tricks to defeat the world No. 34 who he knows very well.
Although they both have one win apiece in their last two meetings, the Portuguese was the victor in their last clash, defeating Aruna 4-2 at the 2018 World Tour Hong Kong Open.
The 35-year-old Nigerian revealed he’s pleased with his performance in Durban and feels it can act as a stepping stone for the rest of the season.
He said: “I think my performance was impressive because I gave my all in Durban and the two matches I played were not that easy, especially the round of 16 against the French teenager Felix Lebrun who has been beating some of the top players in the world. The wins have boosted my confidence going to Russian for my league debut. I look forward to another good performance in Doha but I must admit that there is no easy match again because everybody is at the same level regardless of the world ranking.”
Aruna who retained his position as the highest-ranked African in the world following the new rankings released by the international table tennis federation (ITTF) on Monday, was a semifinalist at the Star Contender Doha in 2022.
The 2014 ITTF Star player of the year is one of the many top players competing at the event in Doha, alongside South Korea’s Jang Woojin, the Contender Muscat II 2022 winner, and Star Contender Doha 2022 winner Andrej Gacina of Croatia.
The 2023 WTT Contender Doha began on January 15 and will run through till January 21 at the Lusail Sports Arena, with a total prize money of $75,000 and 400 World Ranking points available for the winners.
