Table Tennis: Quadri Aruna focuses on Tokyo 2020 qualification
Nigerian table tennis star Quadri Aruna will make another attempt at picking his slot at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when the World Singles Qualification Tournament (WSQT) begins at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha, Qatar.
73 men and 60 women will be aiming for the nine slots available at the four-day tournament, which holds from March 14 to 17.
Quadri, who is one of the listed players and among the top seeds, used the WTT Contender Series and Star Contender as warm-ups for the qualification. He will hope to pick one of the four slots available in the men’s singles.
With a quarterfinal finish at the WTT Contender Series and Round 16 finish at the WTT Star Contender, the Nigerian will be hoping to join the league of elite players heading to Japan in July.
“I am happy that after resting for some days following the injury I sustained while playing for my club in the German Bundesliga, I was able to perform well at the WTT Tournaments,” Quadri said.
“I did not train up to 10 days before heading to the competition and that means I was not even at my full best. I am optimistic that I can be part of the four players that will make it to Tokyo from the qualifiers.”
Kenya, Congo Brazzaville and Algeria are among the African countries competing in the qualifying tournament for Tokyo 2020 in Qatar.
According to International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), three spots will be available for qualification in stage one of the men’s singles qualification, while entries will be split into three knockout rounds starting from the round of 32. The winner of each knockout round will qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
The losing finalist and semi-finalist from each of the three knockouts will then proceed to stage two where one final spot is available. The losing finalist and semi-finalists from each of the three knockout rounds will then be drawn into one final knockout round, where the winner will eventually qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
For the women’s singles, four spots are available for qualification in stage one. Entries will be split into four knockouts starting from the round of 16, with the winner of each knockout qualifying for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
The losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will proceed to stage two where one final spot is at stake. The losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will be drawn into one final knockout, where the winner will qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Chidi Nwoke/The Guardian.
