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Aruna Quadri wins first African tennis championship
News & Trends •
i must express my appreciation to the mauritians for their support their enormous support kept me going throughout the competition1 nigerias aruna quadri on sunday won the mens singles title at the 2018 ittf african championships in mauritius the first time in his career1 in agadir two years ago aruna was the runner up1 aruna in the semi-final in mauritius had beaten compatriot olajide omotayo 11-9 11-6 11-5 11-3 while ahmed ali saleh who will celebrate his 39th birthday next month accounted for nigerias 44 year-old segun toriola 8-11 11-7 9-11 11-8 11-3 11-91 i am so happy that i was able to win this title for the first time having come close in 20161 my next target is the all african games title because the likes of segun toriola and omar assar have won this and i am hoping that i can win this as well1 he beat veteran and three time champion egypts ahmed ali saleh 11-7 6-11 13-11 11-9 11-1. the victory came one month after he won the 2018 ittf challenge seamaster nigeria open in lagos1 it is great again winning another title 28 days after winning the ittf challenge seamaster nigeria open in lagos. aruna told reporters in his post-match reaction1 arunas title will make it the ninth to be won by nigerians in the mens singles events at the african championships. atanda musa blazed the trail in 1985 in alexandria egypt when he beat fellow nigerian yomi bankole 1 nigeria has not won the title since 2002 when segun toriola beat colleague monday merotohun in bizerte tunisia1 toriola followed up winning the mens singles title at the commonwealth games in manchester the first time table tennis was included in the multi-sport event1 although ahmed ali saleh lost to aruna in mauritius he remains the most successful african singles player making five finals and winning three1 he won in addis ababa in 2000 brazzaville 2007 and yaound 20101