Spectators were left stunned on the opening day of the Liebherr 2016 Men’s World Cup on Saturday as Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna suffered an early elimination from his qualifying group.
Aruna lost out to Gao Ning of Singapore in the seven ends to make it two defeats from two matches for the Nigerian at the table tennis tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany.
Victory was required to keep him in with a chance of making the Round of 16 and he made a positive start to the match by moving 2-0 in front.
Then, game three changed the complexion of the duel as Gao edged to a 16-14 win.
He added another two game wins to his name to turn the match on its head with a 3-2 lead in his favour, for momentum to be firmly in Gao’s court.
Although Aruna did manage to level the scores at three games apiece, it was the Singapore player who stood victorious (5-11, 6-11, 16-14, 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 13-11).
After his exit was confirmed Aruna spoke about how the significant difference in high level competition experience proved to be the determining factor in the match.
“I gave my best, but I made a lot of mistakes during crucial stages. I think he is more experienced and that really worked for him.
“I was also unlucky to have missed many chances.”
Aruna continued to praise Gao’s approach to the tie by saying “I knew that it was going to be 50-50 against him because he is a top player.
“He was also calmer during match and I can conclude that his experience saved him. I hope to do better next time.”
Tidesports reports that the one remaining tie in group 4 saw Gao take on Pär Gerell of Sweden to settle the dispute for top spot.
Gerell appears to be in good form at the World Cup after he backed up his morning win over Aruna with an emphatic triumph against Gao (11-2, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6).