Commonwealth Games Table Tennis No.1 seed and Captain of Team Nigeria ping pong team, Aruna Quadri displayed a five-star performance to secure a semifinal qualification against Malaysia.
Quadri boosted Team Nigeria’s chances for a podium finish in table tennis after he came from behind to beat his Malaysia counterpart, as Nigeria earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Malaysia to set up a semi-final clash with India.
After crushing Cyprus on Saturday, Quadri and his mates came into the game against Malaysia to win a medal, following the elimination of Team Nigeria women’s table tennis team.
Nigeria slacked in the men’s doubles matches as the duo of Bode Biodun and
Olajide Omotayo lost 3-1 to the Malaysia duo of Javen Choong and Qi Shen 6-11, 12-10, 12 -10 and 11-7.
In the first men’s singles game, Quadri claimed a comfortable win as he defeated Chee Feng Leong 3-1. After winning the first set against the Malaysian 9-11, Leong in the second set shocked the Nigerian beating him 11-6. Quadri then rallied round to beat Leong 5-11, 5-11 in the last two sets.
It was not too good a performance from Bode Biodun as he lost his game to Qi Shen Wong. Wong won 3-0 beating Nigeria in three straight sets 12 -10, 14 -12, 11-5.
Olajide Omotayo then restored parity to Team Nigeria as he beat Chee Feng Leong 1-3 by 8-11, 11-9, 7-11 and 6-11 while Quadri completed the rot by beating Javen Choong 1-3 in the 4th singles game 11-7, 8-11, 5-11 and 9-11.
Monday’s last four matches against India will be played around 4.30-9.30 pm.
