Aruna Quadri at the ongoing Swedish Open
Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri maintained his stunning form at the ongoing 2017 ITTF World Tour Swedish Open in Stockholm, when he landed in the quarter-final of the competition.
Quadri, who became the first African to play in the quarter-final of the Olympics {at Rio 2016}, on Friday spanked Marcos Freitas of Portugal in four straight games (11-6, 11-4, 13-11, 12-10).
Prior to the demolition of number 12 seed, Marcos, the Nigerian Golden Boy had in the first round stunned number five seed, Hong Kong’s Wong Chin Ting, (11-7, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 2-11, 11-6),
“Just try, always give it your maximum, I just managed to catch the ball with my racket; I thought the ball had bounced on my side of the table and I’d lost the point but then I saw the face of Marcos Freitas and the ball on the floor. It was only then I realised I’d won the point!
“Just as last night {Thursday} against Wong Chun Ting I made a good start, my serves were good; Marcos served half-long and I was able to top spin the serve. I served short and followed up as strong as possible.
“He {Marcos} is a great player, very good serves; earlier this year I lost to him three-nil in the European Champions League. Today was a revenge win but soon I will have to play him again the European Champions League,” an elated Quadri told ittf.com after his victory.
The Oyo State-born ping ponger, Quadri, will on Saturday face top seed Fan Zhendong for a place in the semi-final of the competition.
Fan, Chinese, on Friday outplayed German opponent Benedikt Duda (6-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3) to book a showdown with the African flagbearer.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent quarter of the draw, Zhou Yu, overcame compatriot, Yan An, the number 10 seed (11-9, 11-8, 11-9, 11-2) as Lin Gaoyuan, the number four seed, triumphed over Liu Dingshuo, likewise from China.
Liu Dingshuo was forced to withdraw from proceedings after the first three points of the third game (11-1, 11-9, 11-3, 11-0).
The quarter-final and semi-finals will be played on Saturday, November 18.
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