For the first time in his career, Aruna Quadri has been listed among the top 16 seeds listed by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) for the 2019 Korea Open holding in Busan, South Korea.
With this development, Quadri will not be competing in the preliminary round as he will start his campaigns from the main draw which will also fetch him some ranking points.
The African Champion who is already in Busan believes attending the tournament would prepare him for the 2019 All Africa Games in Morocco.
The Oyo State-born athlete recently signed for Gewo and he is expected to be kitten by the Germany-based table tennis kit firm for the next three years.
The tournament serves off on Tuesday, July 2 with the preliminary round while the main draw which is the first round begins on Thursday, July 4.
According to ITTF, one man stole the show at last year’s Korea Open, causing a stir on the global stage with a historic campaign in Daejeon.
That man was the host nation’s very own Jang Woojin, a player who captured the hearts of table tennis fans across the world with his amazing story – fast forward a year and the Korean is aiming for another inspirational performance at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour SHINHAN Korea Open in Busan from Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th July.
To reach the top step of the podium in sport is a special achievement, even for the world’s most established athletes. What made Jang Woojin’s men’s singles outing even more impressive was that, as an unseeded competitor, his venture began in the qualification tournament.
Successfully negotiating the qualification rounds Jang Woojin opened his main draw campaign with a convincing victory over Germany’s Patrick Franziska before claiming a major scalp in round two, eliminating
China’s Xu Xin. Jang Woojin then recovered from a 1-3 deficit to beat fellow Korean Jeong Sangeun 4-3, toppling Japan’s Jun Mizutani one round later to earn himself a spot in the gold medal match.
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With the backing of the home crowd, Jang Woojin capped off a magnificent journey in fine style, prevailing over China’s Liang Jingkun in straight games to win his second men’s singles title on the ITTF World Tour.