Sports
Aruna Returns For $250,000 WTT Star Contender Bangkok
After missing the WTT Contender events in Lagos and Tunis last month, Quadri Aruna is back in action at the WTT Star Contender Bangkok 2024 in Thailand.
As one of the top seeds in the men’s singles, the Nigerian aims to bolster his ranking points ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Currently ranked 16th by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Aruna could secure a spot among the top 16 seeds in the men’s singles in Paris, with only two of the five top-ranked Chinese players competing.
Aruna stands out as the sole African star competing against a star-studded line-up in Bangkok taking place at the Huamark Indoor Stadium.
Having missed the 2023 edition of the Lagos event, he was scheduled to compete at the second edition of the Lagos event, which was held at the Molade Okoya-Thoma Hall at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, but he withdrew days before the tournament.
The Deputy President of the ITTF Africa and the Chairman of the LOC, Wahid Oshodi, explained that the player was preparing himself for the Olympics.
“He (Aruna Quadri) has been advised not to participate in WTT Contender Lagos, but the physio as a precautionary measure to avoid injury due to his body,” Mr. Oshodi said.
Aruna is currently preparing for the biggest event, which is the Olympics.
“He is 35 years old now, so he does not have much time remaining to win an Olympic medal. He is currently working hard with experienced Segun Toriola (head coach of the Nigerian table tennis team) in preparation for the upcoming Olympics.”
Joining Aruna in Bangkok is Canada’s Edward Ly, whose meteoric rise from beyond the top 300 to world No. 36 within a year is as inspiring as remarkable. Ly’s 2024 journey includes his WTT Champions debut, and he has continued his ascent in the rankings.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor