Aruna reaches WTT China Smash round of 32

Nigerian table tennis icon, Quadri Aruna on Sunday made a bright start to his World Table Tennis China Smash by defeating Benedek Olah 3-1 (13-11, 11-5,12-10, 11-7) in a round of 64 match at Shijingshan Shougang Park, Beijing, China.

The world number 19 thus progressed to the round of 32 of the tournament with $2m prize money, which runs from September 26 to October 6.

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The 39-year-old, whose highest world ranking stands at 10, making him the first African player to be ranked in the top 10 in the world, looks to make up for his dismal outing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where he got eliminated in the round of 64 in men’s singles table tennis by Eduard Ionescu of Romania in a comeback game of 4-3.

Top-seeded Chinese paddler Sun Yingsha defeated Natalia Bajor of Poland 11-7, 11-1, 11-8 to cruise into the women’s singles last 32 as the main draw of World Table Tennis (WTT) China Smash kicked off on Sunday.

The opening ceremony of WTT China Smash was staged ahead of the match between Sun and Bajor. A famous song “Welcome to Beijing,” written for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, brought the atmosphere in the venue to the climax.

The 27-year-old Bajor took an upper hand at the beginning of the first set before Sun adjusted quickly to rally past and seal an 11-7 win. In the following two sets, the Chinese favourite maintained the momentum and clinched the victory in straight sets.

“This is the first time for Beijing to host WTT Smash. I feel pretty good in the first-round match with the warm support from the crowd. I hope to make progress match after match to further improve my performance,” Sun, 23, said after the game.

Punch