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He defeated Germany’s Ruwen Filus, 3-2 (14-12, 6-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-9) in a classic battle between attack and defense.
The African Table Tennis Champion, Quadri Aruna, started his journey at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Open with a victory.
Aruna escaped an early scare in the men’s singles at the Singapore Sports Hub’s OCBC Arena.
He defeated Germany’s Ruwen Filus, 3-2 (14-12, 6-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-9) in a classic battle between attack and defense.
The win ensured that Aruna roared his way to the second round, Aruna will face French teenager Alexis Lebrun.
Aruna admit Ruwen Filus is a tough opponent
The African champion admitted that Ruwen Filus is a tough opponent.
Filus and Aruna were teammates in the German Bundesliga Table Tennis League for two years.
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He said, "It was 5-1 (to him), and then 7-2, and suddenly I won five points in a row. That was a very good comeback, and I was focusing because six or seven years ago I experienced almost the same situation against him, and I knew it was not over until it’s over. I kept my cool, I kept playing, and in the end, he made a few errors, and that made a big difference.
"It's not just that he was a tough opponent, we were together in the same team (in the German Bundesliga) for about two years, and he knows me very well. I believe it was 50-50 before the game, and as we have seen, it was 11-9 in the fifth game."
Assar, Hana Goda suffered early defeat
Former African Champion, Omar Assar, is the first African to suffer a casualty at the Singapore Smash, he was beaten by Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia 3-0.
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Hana Goda and Mariam Alhodaby also tasted defeat against their German and Japanese opponents.
Hina Hayata, the world no. 6 and the Japanese national champion, faced off against Alhodaby, the 2021 African champion, and the Asian star prevailed 3-1. (11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6).
However, Dina Meshref of Egypt edged out the home girl with a 3-1 win in the first round.
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