Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna suffered an early exit at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Chennai tournament, losing to India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the round of 32.
Aruna, who was seeded 13th in the tournament, was expected to make a deep run in the competition. However, he was unable to overcome the challenge posed by Gnanasekaran, who won the match 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8).
“I’m disappointed with my performance,” Aruna said in a post-match interview. “I didn’t play well enough to win. My opponent played a good game, and I couldn’t match his level.”
Aruna’s early exit from the tournament is a setback for Nigerian table tennis, which has been struggling to make an impact on the global stage.
“It’s not the result we were hoping for,” said a spokesperson for the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation. “Aruna is one of our top players, and we were expecting him to do well in this tournament.”
Despite his disappointment, Aruna remains optimistic about his chances of success in future tournaments.
“I’ll go back and work on my game,” he said. “I’ll come back stronger and more determined to succeed.”
Aruna’s exit from the WTT Chennai tournament marks the end of Nigeria’s participation in the event. However, the country’s table tennis players will have another opportunity to compete on the global stage at the upcoming ITTF World Championships.