World Team Table Tennis Championships: Quadri seals 3-1 victory for Nigeria against Argentina

Former African champion Aruna Quadri helped Nigeria seal a 3-1 victory over Argentina in Match 5 of the ongoing Liebherr World Team Table Tennis Championships on Monday at Halmstad in Sweden.

Nigeria, playing in the Men’s Division Two Group F of the event alongside their Argentine counterparts, had defeated Turkey 3-0 in their first game on Sunday.

Segun Toriola was up against Horacio Cifuentes in the first game and lost 0-3 (10-12, 13-15, 8-11) to give Argentina the lead.

Quadri, who appeared more experienced than Gaston Alton, finished the second game 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7) to draw Nigeria level with the opponents.

The youngest member of the team, Olajide Omotayo, who is making a debut at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) championship, disposed Nicholas Galvano 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-3).

Quadri was then up against Cifuentes, where he finished off the fixture with a 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-7) win to earn Nigeria her second victory at the event.

Nigeria’s next game is against Slovakia on Tuesday before the team face Bulgaria and Australia on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

Teams in the tournaments are placed according to rankings.

The countries which qualify for the finals of the division two event will be promoted to the championship stage, which is the top tier of the World Team event.

The tournament, which brings together the world’s best players, got underway on Sunday and will end this Sunday.(NAN)