Nigeria’s Remaining Table Tennis Player Crashes Out

Quadri Aruna, Team Nigeria’s remaining table tennis player at the ongoing London 2012 Olympic Games, crashed out of the competition on Sunday.
Aruna lost 2-4 in his second round game to Turkey’s Bora Vang at the ExCel-North Arena 1, in spite of winning the first two games of the fixture.

Aruna, 23, who drew bye into the first round where he beat Carlos Machado of Spain 4-2 on Saturday, had carried Nigeria’s hope of remaining in the event on his shoulders.

The Nigerian team had qualified for only the singles event of the competition and Aruna’s male teammate, Segun Toriola, had earlier crashed out on Saturday, after advancing to the first round.

The two female players, Olufunke Oshonaike and Offiong Edem, had also seen their aspirations cut short on Saturday, with Edem losing her first game in the preliminary round.

Oshonaike had, like Toriola, also won her preliminary round match, before losing in the first round later in the day.

Aruna had, however, briefly given the hope of Nigeria remaining in contention at the competition, after winning his first two games against Vang at 11-6, 12-10 in 12 minutes.

Source: VANGUARD