Africa number one table tennis player, Aruna Quadri will no longer take part in the Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships after he was beaten by top seed Fan Zhendong on Wednesday.
China’s Zhendong beat the Nigerian 4-0 (12-10, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9) in the round 32 of the men’s singles event.
Quadri admitted it was a tough match and lost to a better player.
“It was a very difficult match and he was a much better player than me. I was just hoping that if I could win the first set then maybe I could be able to play more and more. But immediately he won the first set Fan Zhendong was not himself he started dictating the match. Even in the last set, I was leading 8-5 and he caught up with me to win and that showed he is a better player than me. ”
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Quadri made it to the World Championship round of 32 for the first time in his career.
“For me this tournament is another best competition in my career because I had never made it to the Round of 32 at the World Championships. So, getting to this stage is another milestone for me. I hope to do much better in future,” said Quadri.
World number one will next face his compatriot Liang Jingkun who is ranked 16th in the world in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Fan Zhendong is yet to drop a game after three round of games at the 2019 World Championship.
