Aruna Quadri of Nigeria came from two sets behind to overcome World Number 5 Hugo Calderano of Brazil 3-2 on Wednesday at the World Table Tennis (WTT) men’s championships in Doha.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Aruna, who is now rated 16th in the WTT rankings, entered the battle as the underdog, having previously lost to his Brazilian opponent on two occasions.
As anticipated, Calderano immediately jumped out to an early lead and quickly won the opening two sets, 11-7 and 11-2.
But after a thrilling five-set match, Quadri stunned the favourite by coming back from a two-set deficit to win 7-11, 2-11, 11-9, 12-10, and 12-10. It was the biggest upset of the competition thus far.
As a result, Quadri was guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals, where she would play China’s Fan Zhendong, the top-ranked player in the WTT, on Thursday.
This came after Zhendong had similarly overcome a scare to win 3-2 in a nerve-wracking five-set decider against Serbia’s Darko Jorgic, who was ranked number 14 in the WTT.
“I simply don’t give up.” I could not stop battling.
“Today, my coach had a significant impact.
“I made a lot of attempts, but he never stopped motivating me and telling me not to give up.
Quadri exclaimed, “I am so happy that I didn’t give up and it worked out in the end.”
He continued by expressing his excitement at representing Nigeria, Africa, and all of his global followers in the competition.
“It feels so wonderful.” to rank in the top 16 globally.
“I always enjoy coming here, and I will always cherish it,” he remarked.
In reference to the possibility of playing Zhendong or Jorgic in the quarterfinals, Quadri stated:
“I’ve only ever defeated Zhendong once, and I’ve only ever defeated Jorgic three times.
Therefore, I think taking on any one of these will be an excellent challenge.
He remarked, “I just have to enjoy the euphoria of my victory against Calderano, which is one of my greatest career accomplishments to date. Only time will tell.”
In the outcomes of the round-of-16 matches held on Wednesday, world-ranked German Dang Qiu stunned world-ranked Chinese Lin Shindong 3-2 (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 2-11, 11-8).
In addition, to go to the quarterfinals, world number four Liang Jingkun of China defeated world number six Lin Yun-Ju of Chinese Taipei 3-1 (11-6, 17-15, 3-11, 11-5).
The $340,000 prize fund event began on Wednesday at the Infinity Arena in Doha and is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
