DUSSELDORF (Germany) – Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has produced major world table tennis shocks by recording two stunning upsets on the opening day of the Liebherr 2014 ITTF Men’s World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The 26-year-old, who was ranked as low as 237 at the start of the year, beat world number 27 Kenta Matsudaira of Japan in his opening group game on Friday.
He then went on to beat world number 37 Alexander Shibaev of Russia to progress to the final 16, and was scheduled to take on Tang Peng of Hong Kong.
“I never thought I will progress to the next round because I was going to play against top-rated players who are ranked higher than me. So, I had thought to myself that if I lose, I had nothing to lose and if I win it is a big thing for me.
“But, with today’s (Friday’s) wins, I am ready to face any player because they will be under pressure as they are ranked better than I do. I am hoping for another upset,’’ he said in an interview with the world table tennis governing body’s website.
If Quadri wins against Tang Peng in the round of 16, a dream quarter-final match-up with the Olympic and world champion, China’s Zhang Jike.
Looking ahead to the two matches, the Nigerian who is the current world number 73 was optimistic.
“For me nothing is impossible. Sometimes you see a big moment of history, maybe only once in 20 years. Maybe tomorrow (Saturday) could be my history making moment,’’ he said.
On Saturday, the top eight seeds will come out to join the eight players who qualified from Saturday’s group stage.(NAN)
