I’d rather win Nigeria Open than African Championships – Aruna

Nigeria’s Table Tennis star, Aruna Quadri says he would love to win at the 2018 ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open even more than he’d want to win at the African Championships.

Aruna, who advanced to the semifinals of the ongoing competition in Lagos, stated this during a media chat held at the conference room of the event’s venue.

Currently ranked 18th in the world, Aruna admits that a victory for him at the Challenge event may not add much to his ranking points, but says he would love to see the home crowd happy.

“I think Nigeria Open is one of the best in the Challenge Series,” he said.

“I have played in some really big tournaments. This (Nigeria Open) is actually the lowest I have played in terms of prize money. But of course, I want to win.

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“I really want to win here in Lagos. Although even if I win, it is not going to add to my World ranking, but I want to win at home. I want to make the home crowd happy.”

When asked if he would prefer to win at home to winning at the African championships, he said: “Yes, I prefer to win here (Lagos). No Nigerian has ever won the Nigeria Open and I will like to break that record. But of course, I’d love to win at the African championships too.”

Aruna was the 2017 champion of the continental tournament, but he lost the title this year to his rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar.

Aruna will be up against WISUTMAYTHANGKOON Supanut of Thailand in the semifinals of the Nigeria Open on Sunday morning at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

And if victorious, he would battle for the title against Scotland’s Rumgay Gavin or France’s Hachard Antoine in the final.

The $46,000 prize money competition, which kicked off on Wednesday, will come to an end today (Sunday).

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