Aruna Quadri lifts Polish Open

With few days to the 2017 ITTF World Cup in Liege, Beligum, Aruna Quadri defied all odds on Sunday to emerge as men’s singles champion at the ITTF Challenge tagged Polish Open.

The Nigerian who has been listed among the top 20 players in the world that will compete at the prestigous ITTF World Cup on October 20 to 22, defeated giant killing Japan’s Kaii Yoshida 11-7, 11-13 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12 (4-2) to become the first African to win ITTF title outside the continent.

The final match against the Japanese lived up to expectation as both players tested each other strength-for-strength and skills-for-skills but it was the Nigerian that laughed last.

Quadri ensured that his maintain his status with a resouding victory to the chagrin of the Polish fans who queued behind the Japanese throughout the encounter.

Also Quadri’s opponent enjoyed support from the home fans ashe plies his trade in the Polish league. But this did not deter Quadri from raising his game to cage the Japanese ad smile home with the trophy.

Prior to beating the Japanese in the final, Quadri had defeated Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko (11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6) earlier in the semifinal stage of the competition.

In the women’s singles event, it was Japanese affair as ITTF World Cup defending champion, Mima Ito defeated her compatriot Saki Shibata 4-1 to emerge as winner.