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Legendary Tennis icon Aruna fought back to defeat Japan's Harimoto despite losing the first two sets.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has started his journey at the WTT Champions Frankfurt 2024 with electrifying results inside the Suwag Energie Arena.
The World number 21 pulled off a stunning 3-2 (7-11, 11-13, 11-5, 14-12, 11-3) comeback victory against Japan’s No. five seed, Tomokazu Harimoto.
Harimoto started strong by winning the first two games, and Aruna’s resilience shone through as he fought back to win the game.
In the fifth and final game, Aruna played with immense confidence and freedom, dominating the fast exchanges and shifting the momentum firmly in his favour.
After the game, the Oyo-born table tennis star revealed that it was a tough match and that he is proud of the results.
"It was a tough match against a top player like Harimoto. I had to dig deep and fight for every point. I'm proud of this victory," Aruna said after the match.
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The Nigerian star did not forget to applaud the crowd who had turned up to watch him and cheer him to victory.
"The crowd was amazing, and their support pushed me to the finish line. I'm excited to see what the rest of the tournament brings," Aruna added.
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15:44 - 09.10.2024
Nigeria names squad for 2024 African table tennis Championships in Ethiopia
Quadri Aruna, Olajide Omotayo, Ajoke Ojomu, and Fatimo Bello are joined by promising young talents Matthew Kuti, Muiz Adegoke, Abdulbasit Abdulfatai, Aishat Rabiu, Hope Udoaka, and Aziza Sezuo for the championship in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Omar Assar and Dina Meshref were unable to advance to the next round, losing their respective matches.
However, Egypt's Hana Goda remains in contention, having qualified for the round of 16. She will face He Zhuojia in her next match.
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07:55 - 01.08.2024
Paris 2024: Team Nigeria captain fails to lead by example, joins Super Falcons to crash out
The team captain joined Quadri Aruna, Super Falcons, and several others who have been eliminated from the games.
The WTT Champions Frankfurt offers a prize pool of $500,000, with the singles champions each receiving $30,000 and 1000 ITTF World Ranking points.
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