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2014 ITTF star player, Aruna Quadri, has described his quarterfinal ticket at the on-going Rio Olympic Games as a miracle.
Quadri became the first African to play in the quarterfinal of the men’s singles at Rio 2016 Olympic Games after beating Timo Boll, the former World no. 1 and the no. 10 seeds in Rio de Janeiro on Monday night.
“This is amazing. I don’t know what to say, my fans made the victory possible,” Quadri said. “Thank you to all the Brazilian spectators for their support; they gave me so much energy; this feels so good, it is a dream comes true that I am in the quarter-finals.”
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Quadri, a quarter-finalist at the Liebherr 2014 Men’s World Cup in the German city of Düsseldorf, becomes the first ever African to achieve the feat at the Olympics.
Incredibly, Quadri withstood a brave recovery by the German after winning the first three games to secure a six games success (12-10, 12-10, 11-5, 3-11, 5-11, 11-5).
A disappointed Boll said: “He has surprised a lot of people. I knew he was good coming into the match. I just have to say well played! His whole game is different, so it took me a while to work it out. Once I was 0-3 down I started to get more into the match, but it was already too late.”
