Aruna storms into WTT Champions Macao last 16 News

Navigation: Home / News / Tennis / Aruna storms into WTT Champions Macao last 16

Aruna storms into WTT Champions Macao last 16

By Daily Sports Nigeria on September 10, 2025

Quadri Aruna made a powerful start to his WTT Champions Macao 2025 campaign with a straight-games victory over China’s Huang Youzheng in the men’s singles round of 32 on Tuesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The world number 26, who has endured a difficult run of form in recent months, was in commanding mood at the Macao East Asian Games Dome as he brushed aside the wildcard entry 11-3, 11-8, 11-8.

Aruna won 33 points overall compared to Huang’s 19, converting 19 on his own serve and 14 on his opponent’s.

The 36-year-old’s dominance was underlined by an eight-point lead at its widest margin and a run of seven consecutive points, while Huang’s best rally stretched to just two.

The Nigerian now advances to the round of 16, where he will face the winner of Wednesday’s clash between Germany’s Patrick Franziska and sixth seed Xiang Peng of China.

Aruna’s performance is an emphatic return to form after a poor stretch that had seen him win just once in his last six matches on the World Table Tennis circuit.

Defeats against Shunsuke Togami, Tomokazu Harimoto, Truls Möregårdh and Omar Assar left him short of momentum heading into Macao, but he showed no signs of fragility against Huang.

Huang, ranked 49th in the world, had been handed one of two wild card entries into the tournament, alongside Macao’s He Chon Fai, but was unable to make an impression against the African number one.

The WTT Champions Macao is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport, drawing many of the world’s top-ranked players. Defending men’s champion Lin Shidong, the current world number one, begins his campaign against Kao Cheng-Jui, with Wang Chuqin, Hugo Calderano, Tomokazu Harimoto and Lin Yun-Ju also in the draw.

In the women’s singles, Zhu Yuling stormed into the round of 16 with an emphatic win over India’s Sreeja Akula, while Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz battled through a five-game thriller against Austria’s Sofia Polcanova.

Meanwhile, men’s fourth seed Calderano, who is in Aruna’s path for a potential quarter-final clash, impressed with a straight-games victory over Korea’s An Jaehyun, surviving a spirited fightback to prevail 13-11, 12-10, 11-8.

Source Punch Ng

Posted September 10, 2025