Nigeria’s table tennis star, Quadri Aruna, has been eliminated from the ITTF World Cup following a straight-sets loss to Japan’s Sora Matsushima in his final Group 6 match at the Galaxy Arena, Macao.
Aruna, needing a win to stay in contention after an opening defeat to Tomislav Pucar, was overpowered by Matsushima, who secured a 3-0 victory in just 17 minutes and 35 seconds. The scores read 12-10, 11-3, 11-5, leaving Aruna with no path to the knockout stage.
The Japanese star dominated from start to finish, winning 34 points to Aruna’s 18, including 20 points on his own serve while conceding just seven. Aruna managed only 11 points on serve and seven on return, despite a brief five-point streak.
The 37-year-old Nigerian’s early exit continues a challenging period on the international stage. He is now winless in his last 10 matches in major tournaments, with his last victory recorded against Huang Youzheng in September 2025. Across his last 14 matches, Aruna has claimed just one game.
Recent defeats include losses to top international players such as Tomokazu Harimoto, Truls Moregardh, Omar Assar, Patrick Franziska, Anders Lind, Simon Gauzy, Ovidiu Ionescu, Liang Jingkun, Zhou Qihao, and Felix Lebrun.
Despite the setback, Aruna remains Africa’s only player to have reached a World Cup quarter-final, achieving the feat in Dusseldorf in 2014. Nigeria’s campaign in Macao concludes with his exit, as Aruna now shifts focus to the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London later this month.
