Aruna Quadri becomes first African to reach semi-final of WTT star contender

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has beaten China’s Zhou Qihao in the quarter-final of the men’s singles at the World Table Tennis (WTT) star contender championship in Qatar.

The Nigerian defeated the Chinese player in three straight sets — 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 — on Wednesday.

With the win, Aruna becomes the first African player to reach the semi-final of the WTT star contender event.

The world number 14 player has now also defeated three Chinese players en route to the semi-final in Doha — having gotten past Liu Dingshuo in the round of 32 and Zhao Zihao in the last 16.

Speaking on Aruna’s victory, the WTT described him as “a Kryptonite to the Chinese players in Doha.”

“Quadri Aruna has been China’s kryptonite in Doha. The Nigerian superstar has added another name to his hit list, defeating Zhou Qihao 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7) to advance to the Men’s Singles semi-final,” WTT said.

“That makes it three consecutive Chinese team members which Aruna has sent packing. Most amazingly, he has won the last two matches in straight games. Does this make the Nigerian World No.14 the new favourite to take the title?”.

Aruna will now face South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon in the semi-final on Thursday.