Table Tennis: Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri successfully defends African title

ABIODUN EMMANUEL

Quadri , Nigeria’s tennis player has successfully retained his title in the men’s singles of the 2023 ITTF African Championships after beating Ahmed Saleh of Egypt in the final match played on Sunday.

Aruna, who is the tournament’s number one seed table tennis, overwhelmed Saleh in the final clash with a convincing 4-0 win to hold on to the title he won last year in Algeria.

There were mixed feelings for Aruna in Tunis, having missed the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ticket through injury at the same venue.

“I am happy with the title because I have a good and bad memory of Tunis, having got injured here during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualification. Winning another title here is good to erase the bad memory. This win will remain with me forever, I am happy, looking forward to the next challenge,” the Nigerian said.

Before the triumph recorded by Aruna, seven-time table tennis Olympian, Funke Oshonaike, partnered with rising star Fatimo Bello to claim the gold medal for Nigeria in the women’s doubles event on Saturday.

Oshonaike and Fatima Bello

The feat made them first Nigerians to win a gold medal in the fiercely contested tournament in Tunis, Tunisia.

The ITTF Africa Championship serves as a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the Egyptians dominated all the events, carting away multiple Olympic spots.

Oshonaike came out of retirement to participate in the women’s doubles alongside Bello National Daily Newspaper gathered.

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The pair were up against Cameroonian player Sarah Hanffou and her teammate, Egypt’s Marwa Alhodaby, in the final.

The table tennis event was not one with open qualification for the Olympics, and both teams only had the gold medal to play for National Daily Newspaper gathered.