Quadri Inspires GD Toledos To Win Mediterranean Club Championship

Already in the mood for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Cup scheduled for next week in Germany, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri at the weekend in Istanbul, Turkey inspired his Portuguese side -GD Toledos to claim the title at the 2014 Mediterranean club championship.

The tournament was jostled for by 12 teams drawn from Tunisia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, France, Lebanon and Turkey were pitches against one another in groups.

Quadri and his teammates – Andre Silva and Diogo Silva were pitched against teams from Tunisia and Slovenia.

It was easy for Quadri and his mates to emerge from the group as the top team as they pounded the teams 3-0 apiece.

In the semifinal tie, they were expected to face France’s Sporting Union which has former world number 30, Liu Song.

Before the encounter, Quadri’s team has been written off by the fans but to the chagrin of the spectators, GD Toledos shocked the French side 3-0 to set up a final clash against a Croatian side.

Narrating how the final match went, the Oyo State-born player said: “Andre Silva started the match and he won against Chinese-born Zheng Jen in a convincing encounter that ended 3-1 for my team to take a 1-0 lead.

 I took on Kolarek Tomislave in the second match and I accounted for the defeat of the Croat when I won 3-1 to increase the lead to 2-0. Unfortunately, Diogo Silva could not cope against his opponent in the third match but he lost 3-0 to put the game at 2-1. In the deciding match, I defeated Jen to ensure that my team was crowned the champion of Mediterranean.”

The African champion added: “It was great to be in Turkey as part of my preparation for the ITTF World Cup next week as I had led my team to the third round of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Cup in Luxembourg, where we are expected to tackle a French team in our next match of the competition