Taiwo Mati, and Quadri Aruna Secure Round of 64 Spots at #ITTFWorlds2023
Omar Assar and three other African stars book their spots too
Taiwo Mati and Quadri Aruna have advanced to the round of 64 in men’s singles at the ongoing World Table Tennis Championship in Durban, South Africa.
All four Nigerian players in Africa’s top 10 rankings played in the round of 128, but only two made it to the next round.
Quadri Aruna, Taiwo Mati, Bode Abiodun, and Olajide Omotayo were the four Nigerian players in the pool but only the first two made it to the next round.
Bode Abiodun lost in a straight set 4-0 to Ruwen Filus of Germany, while Olajide Omotayo also lost 4-2 to England’s Paul Drinkhall.
Taiwo Mati who is Nigeria’s second highest-ranked player came from two sets down to claim a 4-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8) win against Lubomir Jancarik.
He will now play against Lam Siu Hang on Monday in the round of 64.
Similarly, Africa’s most-ranked player, Aruna Quadri defeated Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu 4-2 (11-7, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9) to book a round of 64 clash against Spain’s Alvaro Robles.
There were wins for other African players like African champion, Omar Assar, Ibrahima Diaw, Mehdi Boulousa, and Mohamed El-Beiali.
#ITTFWorlds2023 Africa’s Round of 64 Fixtures
Taiwo Mati v Lam Siu Hang
Mohamed El-Beiali v Lin Yun-ju
Mehdi Boulousa v Lim Jong-hoon
Quadri Aruna v Alvaro Robles
Ibrahima Diaw v Alexis Lebrun
Omar Assar v Kirill Gerassimenko
