Aruna Quadri wins his first African men’s title

Aruna Quadri has defeated Ahmed Saleh in Mauritius to win the 2018 ITTF men’s singles title in Mauritius.

Quadri outplayed Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh 4-1 to win his first African championship title which he narrowly lost to Egypt’s Omar Assar in 2016.

The Nigerian table tennis star did not drop a point from the first round until the final.

An elated Quadri said he is still eager to win the African Games which he is yet to have in his kitty.

“I think I have won virtually all the titles in Africa, the only one I am still hungry to win is the African Games title which I believe I will continue to work hard in order to win it next year in Morocco,” Aruna said.

“I am happy that I am winning this African Championships title for the first time particularly less than one month after I won the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open in Lagos.

“I am grateful to the Mauritian fans for their support throughout all my matches.

Egypt’s Dina Meshref, who lost to Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike in 2016, reclaimed her title after a convincing 4-0 win over compatriot – Reem El-Eraky in the women’s singles final.

Meshref admitted that it was a bit hard to win back the laurel particularly with strong opposition from Nigeria’s Edem Offiong in the semi-final.

“I am happy winning my title back but it was not an easy task particularly with the match against Edem Offiong,” Mesheref said.

“But in all I am happy as I look forward to the ITTF World Cup which is my next tournament this year.”