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Quadri Aruna retains African title as Funke Oshonaike powers on

 

NIGERIAN table tennis star Quadri Aruna was in sensational form last night in Tunis, Tunisia as he retained his ITTF-Africa Senior Championship men’s singles title.

The one-time Olympic quarter-finalist outclassed Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh in the final, comfortably winning in straight sets of 11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6.

Aruna had carried on his devastating form from the semi-finals, where he had dispatched his compatriot Olajide Omotayo 4-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2) to advance to the final.

Saleh also defeat another Nigerian to reach the final, recovering from a 0-2 deficit to beat Idowu Saheed 4-2 (12-14, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7) in the second semi-final to book the showdown with Aruna.

In the women’s singles final also last night, 15-year-old Egyptian sensation Hana Goda emerged as the women’s singles champion after a 4-1 (11-7, 11-4, 13-11, 8-11, 11-4) win over her compatriot Dina Meshref.

In the women’s doubles final on Saturday night, 47-year-old Funke Oshonaike won yet another title to add to her glorious collection.

The legendary seven-time Olympian partnered with her fellow Nigerian Fatimo Bello to defeat Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou and Egypt’s Marwa Alhodaby 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 12-10) in a keenly contested final to clinch gold.

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