Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has lamented his loss to Omar Assar in the men’s singles final of the ITTF Africa Cup decided at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos last weekend.
Aruna, the first African player to play in the quarter-final of the Olympic Games [Rio 2016] lost 3-4 to the Egyptian in a final which turned out to be another classic featuring Africa’s best two players at the moment.
At 3-3, Aruna was leading 4-1 in the seventh game when he copped a thigh injury that scuttled his chance of reclaiming the title, he won last in 2014 but the injury slowed down his performance for him to concede defeat to Assar who retained the title he won in 2019 at the same venue.
“Of course, I gave almost everything, from when I could move, to when I couldn’t move very well again. I was already feeling tightness in my thigh. Despite that, of course, I never gave up, as I was still fighting until finally at 3-3, and at 4-0, I was leading… It is one of those things in sports, but I am very happy with my performance,” a disappointed Aruna said.
Meanwhile, Assar couldn’t hide his joy after the hard-fought victory over crowd favourite and homeboy Aruna.
“I am very happy to perform here in Lagos, and I believe here is the place I have received the most support in my career. It has been so long a time since I last played here because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe here is the best place to play in Africa because the people love table tennis and they always love to watch the sport, and the hall is always filled up, which you don’t see often in Africa.
“I am happy that I won today, but at this time, I am worried about Aruna’s injury. Aruna and I are very close friends outside the court. To me, the most important thing is that he is healthy and that he is not in pain. I wish him all the best and soonest recovery,” an elated Assar told reporters.