Quadri, Offiong Get Foes At ITTF World Tour In Spain

Four Nigerian players including Portugal-based Aruna Quadri and Edem Offiong will begin their campaigns on Wednesday at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-sanctioned World Tour tagged Spanish Open.

Being the fourth ITTF World Tour for Quadri, while Offiong is making her first appearance in the tournament as part of her build up to this month’s World Championship in Japan.

Other Nigerian players taking part in the five-day championship include Kazeem Makanjuola and Ganiyat Olatunde-Aruna.

In the draw released by the organisers on Tuesday, Quadri has been drawn in Group 10 of the preliminary round alongside Spain’s Carlos Franco and Jersey’s Joshua Band, while Offiong has been pitched against Russia’s Yulia Prokhova and England’s Hannah Kicks in Group seven of the women’s singles.

Makanjuola, who is yet to win a match at some of the tours attended so far will tackle Spain’s Alfredo Carneros and Venezuela’s Nelson Villanueva in Group 13 of the men’s singles event.

Olatunde-Aruna, who is making her second appearance in the ITTF World Tour will confront India’s Shanim Kunaresan, Bulgaria’s Kutsiaryna and Spain’s Elena Lopez for a place in the main draw of the women’s singles.Aside the singles event, the players will also compete in the preliminary stage of the doubles event on Thursday.

Quadri’s first group match will be against Jersey’s Band on table one on Wednesday, while Makanjuola will also be in action against Venezuela’s Villanueva on table three.

Quadri and Makanjuola will play their last group match on Thursday to know their fate in the singles event before turning to the doubles event.

Quadri, who arrived Almeria city, venue of the competition on Monday said he was sure of making to the main draw having narrowly missed out from playing in the last 64 at the Kuwait, Qatar and German Opens.

“I think I need to raise my game in Spain because my Spanish opponent is a familiar foes I played against during the European Table Tennis Union Championship recently. I won 3-2 and I hope to repeat same feat in Spain on Wednesday,” Quadri said.

Meanwhile, Austria’s Liu Jia, the number two seed is the most successful player in the history of the ITTF World Tour on duty in the women singles event of the 2014 ITTF World Tour Spanish Open.

Jia has also four ITTF World Tour Women’s Singles titles to her name; she won in Rio de Janeiro in 2004, in Berlin in 2008 and in Olomouc in 2012; more pertinently she has been in outstanding form in 2014. 

 In addition to winning the Women’s Singles event at the DHS Europe Cup in Lausanne, on the ITTF World Tour she succeeded in the Hungarian city of Szombathely, before being the runner up in Doha.

Sayaka Hirano and Jia are two of four players, who will be in action in Almeria who have clinched ITTF World Tour Women’s Singles titles.

The two further names are Sayaka Hirano’s colleague, Yuka Ishigaki, she won in Cairo in 2010 and the most recent winner of all, Germany’s Shan Xiaona who won on Sunday 30th March in Magdeburg.

Over $100,000 will be at stake at the tournament, which is one of the major competitions in the ITTF World Tour.