Posts tagged: African Doubles Champions

Nigeria’s flagbearer at the 2020 ITTF World Cup Aruna Quadri has been pitched against Germany’s Patrick Franziska and Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic in group three of the first round stage of the championship taking place in Weihai, China.

The tournament is one of the four Restart Competitions lined-up by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) for the return of international events following COVID-19 pandemic which broke out across the globe. International table tennis events have been on hold since March 2020 and the Restart tournaments include, Women’s World Cup, Men’s World Cup, ITTF Finals and WTT championship scheduled for Macau later this month as well.

Already, the Women’s World Cup has concluded with China’s Chen Meng emerging as champion in her maiden outing and the Men’s World Cup which has Quadri and Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh as Africa’s representatives kicks off on Friday November 13 to 15 at Weihai Nanhai Olympic Sport Centre.

At the draw held on Thursday November 12, Quadri will slug it out for a place in the main draw against German Franziska while his final group match will be against the young Slovenian who is considered as one of the emerging stars from Europe.

According to ITTF, the Nigerian is regarded as one of the dark horses of the competition who is making his sixth World Cup appearance since making his debut in 2009 in Moscow, Russia.

Quadri is a bronze medallist at the 2019 ITTF Africa Cup, and he is seeded no.13 among the 21 players competing in the three-day tournament.

“A regular at world title events, Quadri Aruna is no stranger to pushing the table tennis elite to the limit. Aruna will want to improve his best quarter-final finish of six years ago in Düsseldorf, as he could not go past the round of 16 in last year’s edition. What will the African representative bring to the table in Weihai?,” ITTF wrote.

The top two players in the four groups are expected to advance to the main draw where they will be drawn against the top eight seeds in the main draw of the championship.

SOURCE : 

Nigeria Table Tennis Federation

As Aruna Quadri awaits his possible opponents in the 2020 ITTF World Cup holding in China on Thursday November 12, Africa’s most successful table tennis players, Segun Toriola and Olufunke Oshonaike have expressed optimism on the performance of the Nigerian against some of the best in the world.

Toriola and Oshonaike have proved great ambassadors for table tennis over the years.

Both players have featured at past ITTF World Cup events and, despite approaching their late 40s, they are still active for their clubs and countries.

Notably last year, Oshonaike sealed qualification to her seventh Olympic Games, becoming the first female table tennis player to achieve the feat.

Ahead of the upcoming ITTF World Cups and ITTF Finals in China on November 13 to 17, Toriola and Oshonaike analysed the events which mark the return of international action after seven months of inactivity across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For me, these events are going to be a little bit strange because we can’t comment about the players’ recent form, but I know the Chinese always try to be in shape and ahead of the game. I am sure it is not going to be easy for many players because during the COVID-19 lockdown most players across the world were not able to practise very well, then after the lockdown, players tried to come back, but it has not been easy for players in terms of managing their feelings and confidence,” Toriola said.

He added: “Although some of the European countries have started playing leagues, these are very different to competing in international events, so it is not going to be easy for players. I think that the Chinese are the favourites because during the lockdown they were still practising and also played some competitive events in China. They are always well prepared and well organised. However, the Chinese players need to watch out for Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, because he is a very dangerous player.”

It is going to be difficult for Africans at the World Cups. It’s a big challenge for Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh, particularly with the pace of the present players. Also considering his style of play, he is an experienced athlete who defends a lot, but I think that Quadri Aruna can go far in the competition. On his day, he has the quality to match anyone in the world.”

Aruna Quadri has been leading TTC RhönSprudel Maberzell Fulda in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) and the 32-year-old is yet to find his feet in the league and the Nigerian promises that with the return of the spectators, he hopes to raise his game. The Nigerian will compete in the ITTF Restart Tournaments next month and he promises to be a good ambassador.

Q1. You will travel to China to play a World Cup tournament (November 13-15 in Weihai) and the ITTF finals (November 19-22 in Zheng). What are your goals?

“My goals are always the same: I want to improve my performance and be a good ambassador for my country, my sponsors, and my club”

Q2. The Olympic Games in Tokyo, which have been postponed by a year, are on the agenda for the coming year. That would be her third. Do you believe in an event?

“In the current situation, hardly anything can be planned. Of course, the Olympic Games are something special. But health and safety come first.” 

Q3. You are 32 years old. How long do you want to continue practicing your sport as a professional?

“I hope for a few more years. I will continue to play table tennis as long as my body allows it and my performance is good.”

 Q4. Why do you find it so difficult against opponents who are far behind you in the world rankings?

“It is still very difficult for me to adapt to the level of play in Germany. But I firmly believe that I will be able to do that very soon. The Bundesliga is really strong and challenging. I think the chance of winning is always around 50:50. One shortcoming was certainly having to play some games without spectators, like in Bad Königshofen and Düsseldorf. That is not satisfactory for me; the morale was not the same as in an audience game. Spectators are very important to me, which is an additional incentive for me.”

Q5. Is there a big difference between Bundesliga games and international tournaments?

“The Bundesliga and international tournaments are very similar. The level of play is very high here.”

Q6. Your weapon is the forehand. Your weak point is the backhand. The opponents use this consistently. How can you solve the dilemma?

“I am working very hard to become even more variable and I am confident that I am on the right track. I’m looking forward to doing my best for the team.”

Aruna Quadri lived up to expectations in his first season in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) as the Nigerian saved his team TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell from the brink of defeat to beat reigning champions FC Saarbrücken 3-2 at the weekend.

The visitors were on their way to emphatic win but Quadri’s display changed the tone of the game for the home team as his win against Darko Jorgic 3- 0 (11- 5, 11- 9, 11- 2) was what gave TTC hope of a comeback.

Earlier, Ruwen Filus and Fan Bo Meng have both suffered 3-0 (5-11, 6-11, 10-12) and 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 9-11) to Patrick Franziska and Shang Kun respectively.

However, it was the win by the Nigerian superstar that motivated the comeback of TTTC against the star-studded visitors.

The year 2020 started like any other year. A year in which athletes were preparing for the biggest sporting event in the world, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

However, every activity had to be brought to a halt due to the Novel Coronavirus. Associations affiliated with the International Table Tennis Association(ITTF) had to cancel their programs. This brought untold hardship to players and coaches of the sport.

In order to help our communities cope with the new normal #TableTennisUnited decided to intervene with stimulus packages for the Table Tennis community.

As a result we at GH. Table Tennis applied for support from #TableTennisUnited for one of our budding talents, Richard Ofori, who is a junior national Table Tennis player in Ghana who needs support to enable him to reach his fullest potential.

We were pleasantly surprised when we received a response from #TableTennisUnited. They provided training kits, which comprised of canvas, jersey, tracksuit, and rubbers.

A delighted Richard Ofori thanked #TableTennisUnited, and this is what he had to say:

                                  “Thank you #TableTennisUnited for making my dream come true”

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people who provide help to Richard Ofori.

• Mr. Adolf Awotwe who discovered Richard Ofori and became his coach and trainer.
• Mr. Elliot Agyare the C.E.O of Smartline Publishing Limited who made it possible for Richard Ofori to use the EMEF’s training centre.
• Mr. Joseph Amoabeng the mentor of Richard Ofori.
• The Monday Special crew of Nungua, whom he plays the game with every Monday evening.

The year 2020 started like any other year. A year in which athletes were preparing for the biggest sporting event in the world, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

However, every activity had to be brought to a halt due to the Novel Coronavirus. Associations affiliated with the International Table Tennis Association(ITTF) had to cancel their programs. This brought untold hardship to players of the sport.

In order to help our communities cope with the new normal #TableTennisUnited decided to intervene with stimulus packages for the Table Tennis community.

As a result we at GH. Table Tennis applied for support from #TableTennisUnited for one of our budding talents, Richard Ofori, who is a junior national Table Tennis player in Ghana who needs support to enable him to reach his fullest potential.

We were pleasantly surprised when we received a response from #TableTennisUnited. They provided training kits, which comprised of canvas, jersey, tracksuit, and rubbers.

A delighted Richard Ofori thank #TableTennisUnited, and this is what he had to say:

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people who provide help to Richard Ofori.

• Mr. Adolf Awotwe who discovered Richard Ofori and became his coach and trainer.
• Mr. Elliot Agyare the C.E.O of Smartline Publishing Limited who made it possible for Richard Ofori to use the EMEF’s training centre.
• Mr. Joseph Amoabeng the mentor of Richard Ofori.
• The Monday Special crew of Nungua, whom he plays the game with every Monday evening.

Ghana’s 3 time SWAG Table Tennis award winner dominates in Westchester, United States of America, where he is currently on a training tour.

Felix Lartey won the September LYTTC Giant RR September Open in the U2500 rating. The LYTTC Giant RR tournament is a USATT Sanctioned tournament which was played in the under 1900 and over 1900 category, with the winners taking home USD 200.00 and USD 500 respectively.

Felix Lartey a member of the black loopers competed in the over 1900 category which had thirty four (34) registered players. The players where categorised into four (4) groups, with each group comprising of 8 players. Felix Lartey was in Group 1 which had the likes of Alex Averin, Kelly Liang, Ainish Dassarma, Suman Saurabh, Steve Hopkins, Preston Stecklein, Gaelan Mullins and Rafi Hosein.

With his abled coach, a former black looper Courage Nenevi in his corner, Felix won all seven matches in the group stage, to qualify for the top 16 stage where he played and beat Lucy Leing. Richard Dewitt was his opponent in the quarter final stage whom he defeated to advance into the semi final.