Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has become the first African player to reach the semifinals stage at the WTT Star Contender after an outstanding 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7) win over China’s Zhou Qihao in the quarterfinals of the Men’s singles in Doha, Qatar today.

En route to the semis, Aruna has now defeated three Chinese players at the tournament. The Nigerian cruised past Liu Dingshuo in the round of 32 and Zhao Zihao in the round of 16.

Aruna’s next opponent is South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon. He will be hoping to avenge his 1-3 loss to the South Korean in the round of 32 at the WTT Contender which took place at the same venue a week ago.

The World Table Tennis (WTT) has described the Nigerian’s performance as outstanding.

“Quadri Aruna has been China’s kryptonite in Doha. The Nigerian superstar has added another name to his hit list, defeating Zhou Qihao 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7) to advance to the Men’s Singles semi-final. That makes three consecutive Chinese team members which Aruna has sent packing. Most amazingly, he has won the last two matches in straight games. Does this make the Nigerian World No.14 the new favourite to take the title?” said WTT.

The semifinal matches will be played on Thursday, March 31, and will be streamed live via the World Table Tennis (WTT) website. (Channels TV)

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