BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE, LAGOS
Nigeria and TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell table-tennis sensation, ARUNA QUADRI says he will bounce back from the defeat he suffered in the hands of KILIAN ORT in the opening round of the on-going German Tabl- tennis league.
The World number 20 made this promise when www.sunrisetes.com.ng caught up with him via the WhatsApp messenger on Monday.
In a question and answer session, QUADRI described what happened on his debut game in the German table –tennis Bundesliga and what his fans should expect from him in the coming days.
Question: On your debut there was a 3-0 defeat for TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell, you yourself lost 3-1 to Kilian Ort. How did the debut feel overall?
Answer: It was a very bad day for the whole team. It’s a terrible feeling to have lost on my debut in the TTBL – and of course the defeat of the entire team is just as annoying.
Question: You won the first set against Ort 11: 3, but lost the others with 8:11, 7:11 and 9:11. Why couldn’t you build on the performance from the first sentence?
Answer: I actually got off to a very good start, but somehow I lost my focus in the second set. Ort, on the other hand, was consistently highly concentrated – and that made all the difference in the end and cost me a possible victory. In addition, I was a bit nervous, after all, it was my first game in the TTBL. So I’m confident that I will get stronger in the next few games.
Question: What percentage of your capabilities were you at?
Answer: I can’t say exactly, but it was definitely not the maximum. Unfortunately, I didn’t meet the expectations of the club or my own. It’s been a few years since I last played in such a strong league, back in France. Table tennis is played here at the very highest level. I have to get used to that, but I’m sure that I can improve from game to game.
Question: What were you satisfied with today and what not?
Answer: When you lose, there is no such thing as satisfaction. The team and the club management simply cannot be satisfied with a game like this. Each of us wants to win – and we won’t be satisfied until we’ve done that.
Question: how did you see your teammates Ruwen Filus and Fan Bo Meng today?
Answer: They played well, but we just weren’t lucky. Ruwen has already led 2-0, but Bastian Steger came back very strong. It was similar in my game; after a good start I lost the thread and gambled away the lead. And Fan Bo is still young and in the middle of development, you always have to keep that in mind. So I am confident that we will perform better in the next game against Bremen!
QUADRI ARUNA had a disappointing debut with the TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell on Matchday 1 of the table tennis Bundesliga (TTBL), the 20th world rated star fell 1: 3 to KILIAN ORT.
