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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 27, 2016
GLOBAL SOCCER
A Golden Quarter Final Feat
Although an Olympic Games medal did not come the way of Aruna Quadri at the just concluded 2016 Rio Olympics as he was eliminated in the quarter finals by world’s number one–China’s Ma Long, he succeeded in establishing himself as a force to reckon with in the game of table tennis after achieving an unprecedented feat on the African continent. Little wonder the table tennis world and indeed the International Table Tennis Federation celebrated him after his exit. Kunle Adewale reports
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hen the third round fixtures of the men’s table tennis singles pitched Aruna Quadri against Chinese Taipei’s Chuang ChihYuan, there was no doubt that the Nigerian was in for a tough time and it was generally believed that he had reached his end.But Ouadri put up an awesome display and caused a major upset; beating Chih-Yuan 4-0. Again, against influential German, Timo Boll in the fourth round, many believed the Oyo State-born ping-ponger had stretched his luck enough. The 2014 ITTF star player put up a stunning performance as he took the first three sets, but Boll fought back to pick the fourth and fifth sets. However, Quadri dug deep into his bag of tricks to pick the sixth set to end the clash 4-2, thereby becoming the first African table tennis player to ever qualify for the quarter final of the men’s singles event of the Olympic Games. Before his victory over the German, Quadri had tied with legendary Segun Toriola as the first Nigerian, nay African, to make it into the fourth round of the Olympic men’s singles. He could however not carry his luck further in the quarter final as he bowed out on his birthday to the superior power of world number one, China’s Ma Long. Quadri, who turned 28 on August 9, got a befitting birthday song from adorable Brazilian fans, other African athletes and officials for doing the continent proud. ”They were really good singers. I was so happy seeing them singing for me, it was an amazing thing. Ma Long is so much better, so much faster; everything is just perfect about Ma Long while his speed was just too much for me. It was not going very well for me tonight and I had a lot more difficulty receiving his service. He was stronger and faster, everything was just too perfect about him. “I believe that it is possible for an African to win Olympic medal in table tennis because nothing is impossible. I strongly believe there are some upcoming players in Africa, including Egypt’s Omar Assar, and some top
Nigerian players who could easily match my record with hard work,” the ping-ponger said. A relieved Ma Long, who was featuring in his first singles event at the Olympic Games admitted after his victory: “As an African player, it’s not easy that he made it to the quarterfinals stage. He was able to defeat Chuang Chih-Yuan and Timo Boll on his way to the quarter finals. It shows he’s strong and skillful.” He however thinks Quadri’s strengths really helped him to cause upsets. “His forehand and footwork are great. I think because he doesn’t play much internationally, so we are not familiar with his playing style and characteristics. That could have surprised his opponents, and they couldn’t react and adapt in time,” Ma Long said. Meanwhile, the President of African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy, has said that the performance of Quadri was a confirmation of Africa’s relevance in table tennis world wide, saying he believed Quadri was a pride to Africa in Brazil. “His heroic performance is a confirmation of Africa’s relevance in global table tennis. I must admit that all the African players did their best in the singles, while the extra ordinary outcome was through Aruna Quadri for his superb performance against the top ITTF ranked players like Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan and Germany’s Timo Boll. In my opinion, the achievement of Quadri in Rio will be of great impact to Africa and all players as well as help to break all barriers, raising the ceiling of ambitious player at all World and Olympic title events regardless of their opponents,” the ATTF boss said. He added: “Simply, Aruna Quadri is perfect, full of energy and trust his skills with good preparation. He also put his mind in the game to fly the flag of Nigeria and Africa in such Olympic Games.” He charged young players to follow the foot step of Quadri in terms of preparation and dedication in training. The President of Senegal Table
Can Quadri get his revenge against MA Long in Germany
Tennis Federation, Balla Lo, also hailed Quadri, stressing that the huge gap between Africa and developed continents had reduced with this feat. “This is not the case regarding some major sports like football, basketball, judo and many other sports where the gap is still very wide. My best wishes to Aruna,” the Senegalese table tennis chief
Quadri in full concentration
said. Quadri’s Rio feat was not only appreciated by encomium, but also with cash reward. Frank Momoh, the President of Frot Group said his performance had shown that with more support, table tennis had the capacity to bring more laurels to Nigeria. Momoh said: “Despite the loss of Quadri to Ma Long, the team needs