By Daily Sports Nigeria on March 29, 2025

Nigeria’s table tennis star, Quadri Aruna, suffered an early exit at the maiden WTT Star Contender Chennai in India after a 3-0 loss to Chinese Tapei player and world no. 58, Feng Yi-Hsin in the round of 32 on Friday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

It was not a good outing for Aruna, who was stunned by the 22-year-old (13-11, 11-8, 11-8) in the second round.

The former WTT youth champion curtailed Aruna in their maiden encounter, recording his first win against the highest-ranked African in the world.

While Aruna was drawn bye into the round, Yi-Hsin had sent the number four seed in the tournament a note of warning when he dispatched Belgium’s Adrien Rassenfosse 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9) in just 20 minutes to emerge as Aruna’s opponent on Thursday.

The 36-year-old Aruna has now played in three WTT events this year with his semi-finals finish in the WTT Star Contender in Doha, where he lost in straight sets to Japanese sensation Tomokazu Harimoto, being his best run.

Meanwhile, 2025 African Cup champion Omar Assar of Egypt began his campaign at the event with a convincing victory in the first round of the men’s singles at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in India.

Assar, the No. 5 seed in the sen’s singles, also received a bye to the second round (round of 32) and showcased his best against Hong Kong’s Kwan Man Ho.

Despite losing the first game 4-11, the Egyptian dug deep to win the next three games 11-7, 11-3, 12-10, progressing to the third round (last 16) where he will face the winner between South Korea’s Oh Junsung and Hong Kong’s Chan Baldwin on Saturday.

Elsewhere, 16-year-old Flavien Coton of France bagged an upset win, outlasting No. 9 seed Alvaro Robles of Spain across four games (11-1, 11-3, 6-11, 13-11).

The biggest shock in the women’s singles action came at the expense of local hero Manika Batra, as the No. 9 seed succumbed to a round of 32 exit.

Facing off against 21-year-old Huang Yu-Jie for the first time, it was the World No. 239 who stole the show, producing a magnificent display against Batra to send shockwaves across Chennai (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9).

Source

Posted March 29, 2025

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