Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri made history on Sunday as he became the first Nigerian player to win the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Quadri beat Frenchman Antoine Henchard 4-2 in the final of the men’s single in front of a capacity crowd at the stadium.
In one of the most entertaining tournaments, Quadri came from behind to win.
Henchard won the first set 13-11 but Quadri drew level in the second set, winning 11-3.
Henchard won the third set 11-8 but Quadri took the following two sets 11-7.
The Nigerian led for the first time in the fifth set winning 11-5 and sealed the win with an 11-8 win in the sixth set.
The 29-year-old showed a spirit of sportsmanship in the third set when the umpire erroneously awarded a point to him, which Henchard won.
He called the umpire’s attention to it. He was thereafter awarded the Fairplay Award of the competition.
