Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna will be facing India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the World Table Tennis (WTT) Middle East Hub taking place in Doha, Qatar.
Aruna is the only African remaining in the $200,000 prize-money tournament. His compatriots, Olajide Omotayo, Egypt’s Assar and Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw were all eliminated in the preliminary round of the men’s singles.
The Nigerian is ranked among the 24 top players in the tournament and he will go against the 28-year-old Indian star that is ranked 37th in the world tomorrow March 3, 2021.
Aruna said,
“I am surely going to give my best against the best. In table tennis, nothing is sure but with determination and hardwork as well as some luck, one can be sure of progressing in each stage of the tournament,” Aruna said.
The WTT Contender Series has two event tiers namely; WTT Star Contender and WTT Contender. They are supposed to deliver world-class competition.
The 32 year old and other world top players will fight for the ITTF Table Tennis World Ranking points, as young stars seek to stake a claim for themselves, reported The Nation.
The WTT Star Contender is scheduled to take place for six days and WTT Contender events will be hosted for four days.
Each of these events will be featuring men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles competitions.