Quadri to battle Brazil’s Calderano in first round at WTT Finals

Africa’s number 1 table tennis player, Quadri Aruna will face Brazil’s Hugo Calderano in the first round of the WTT Finals Men Doha 2023 in Qatar on Wednesday.

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The Nigerian has lost in his last meetings against the Brazilian star, but he will hope for a change when both continental kings clash at the Lusail Sports Arena.

Quadri goes into the encounter as an underdog against the World No. 5 from Brazil, who holds a 2-0 record against the African king, and he will be the favourite to keep his stellar WTT Series year rolling on.

According to WTT, the duo should be well prepared to face each other having spent the last few days on their stay in Doha practising together, and fans should be in for a treat when they take centre stage on the opening day of action.

Quadri remains the only African to have featured in the year-ending WTT Finals since its inaugural edition in 2021 while he also made it to the quarterfinal in his maiden outing after beating the then world number six, Liang Jingkun of China 3-1 in an explosive encounter held in Singapore while he exited in the first round at the 2022 edition.

Apart from aiming to exceed his 2021 performance, Aruna will be targeting ranking points that will help shore up his world rating ahead of the qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France.

WTT Finals Men Doha is the climactic conclusion to the WTT Series 2023, and it will offer a prize pool of $340,000 as well as 1500 World Ranking points up top for the men’s singles winner.