Quadri, Omotayo begin hostilities at Austrian Open
Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo on Monday arrived in Linz for the last 2018 ITTF World Tour tagged Austrian Open which gets underway at the Tips Arena in Linz from Tuesday November 6 to 11.
In Austria, Quadri is aiming to end the year in top 30 in the world and playing in the Austria Open will surely help him to garner ranking points that will secure his place in the global top 30 rating.
After missing from the list of seeding players in the men’s singles, Quadri has been given a bye to the second round of the preliminary stage of the men’s singles while Omotayo will begin hostilities from the first round of the preliminary as he is expected to battle Qatar’s Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi.
It will be a Herculean task for Quadri as he is expected to battle the winner between China’s Ziyang Yu and Qatar’s Ali Alkhadrawi in the first round of the preliminary stage.
Omotayo will be targeting ranking point like Quadri being one of the biggest movers in the world ranking in 2018. “My first target I to win my first match while I will be facing a Chinese star in the second round and I believe I must be at my best in the tournament. It promises to be exciting particularly being the last World Tour for the year as some of the top players are hoping to use it to qualify for the World Tour Grand Finals later in the year,” Omotayo said.
Also, China’s Lin Gaoyuan is not only heading to Austria to defend his title but by competing has will book his place in the $1m 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to be staged in December in Incheon, Korea Republic.
Currently on the Men’s Singles Standings he is listed at number five with 616 points and by competing in Austria, he will complete the minimum five appearance criteria and will reserve an invitation for Incheon.
Read Also: ITTF Ranking: Omotayo becomes second highest ranked Nigerian
However, for the most successful player at an ITTF World Tour tournament in Austria, a repeat performance is required. Germany’s Timo Boll is the only player to win the Men’s Singles title on more than one occasion; he won in 2002, 2004 and 2008, whilst being the runner up in 2010.