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28
Thu, Mar

Quadri Vows To End Chinese Dominance At Tokyo Olympics

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32-year-old Aruna Quadri, the Nigerian table tennis champion has disclosed that his goal at the Tokyo Olympics is to win a medal. Quadri who secured qualification for the 2022 Tokyo Olympics by virtue of his position on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Olympic qualification ranking, also expressed his desire to be “lucky” to stop the domination of China at the games, noting that he has the credentials to pull a surprise on the Chinese participants in Tokyo.


China has established itself as a powerhouse in the sport, winning all the table tennis events at the last three Olympics to emphasise its supremacy.


“Table tennis is the number one sport in China. They put a lot of money into the sport, and they have the best coaches who understand the game,” he said.


“But I think it is possible to pull a surprise in Tokyo. My target is to win a medal, and I hope to be lucky.”


Quadri, currently Africa number 1, will join Olajide Omotayo, Edem Offiong, and Funke Oshonaike as Nigeria’s representatives in table tennis at the Olympics.


Tokyo will be Quadri‘s third Olympics, having represented the country in London 2012 and Rio 2016.


In Brazil, he defeated Chuang Chih-yuan, the then 5th seed, in four straight sets before edging Timo Boll, a renowned German player, 4-1.


He was, however, stopped by Ma Long, the eventual winner, in the quarter-final.

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