Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has been drawn in Group C alongside Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson and Australia’s Heming Hu in the first round of ITTF World Cup holding at the Sichuan Province Gymnasium in Chengdu, China.
Quadri was picked as a replacement for Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, who was ruled out following a back injury he sustained last week in Singapore.
The Nigerian who holds the record as the best performing African in the tournament having made it to the quarterfinal stage of the 2014 edition in Dusseldorf will square up against familiar foes in the Swedish and Australian stars.
Quadri, who aims to better his quarter-final finish, will face southpaw Karlsson and Hu – neither of whom are pushovers.
According to ITTF, the battle for supremacy in the group will come down to wits among the three stars from Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
As the top seed player in the group, there are expectations that Quadri will have an easy ride over his opponents as only the top two players in the group will advance to the knockout stage.
Quadri’s first game today will be against the Aussies while he will take on the Swedes later today.
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Africa Cup champion, Egypt’s Omar Assar will be hoping to use the tournament to warm himself back into the heart of his fans after a disappointing year as the Egyptian has been drawn in Group B alongside United States’ Kanak Jha and Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu.