It was victory for Quadri Aruna at the first hurdle of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Cup Finals in Singapore, by claiming a record 3-1 (7-11, 11-1, 14-12, 11-5) win over world No.8 Liang Jingkun of China in the round of 16 of the Men’s Singles to advance to the quarter finals of the competition.
Aruna is playing in Singapore on the back of an historical outing at the world championships in Houston where he became the first African to reach the quarter finals of the world table tennis championships and the first African to rise up to No.13 in the world.
Going into the match, the highest ranked African player trailed Jingkun 0-2 on head to head from losses to the Chinese at the 2018 Korean Open and the World Team Cup in 2019 but Aruna successfully got his pound of flesh early on Sunday morning.
“I kept fighting and I did not give up. I tried my best and it worked out for me in the end. I also think it’s my positive mindset that made me do well too.” said Aruna.
“I’m very happy and excited, I think I’m just so lucky in this match, everyone is so tired from the championships in Houston and I can see he is tired also.
