Aruna and other African Stars Knocked out of 2025 ITTF World Cup

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna on Wednesday exited the 2025 ITTF World Cup in Macao, China, following a 4-0 loss to Sweden’s Anton Kallberg.

Despite having an edge in the first two sets, Aruna fell to the 27-year-old Kallberg, who advanced to the second stage after recording scores of 14-12, 13-11, 11-9, 11-2.

Meanwhile, the end of the road at the 2025 ITTF World Cup came for other African players as Egypt’s Dina Meshref, Hana Goda, and Omar Assar also all failed to advance to the second stage of the prestigious tournament.

Needing a win to secure their spots in the second round, Assar was the first to face defeat, losing 3-1(12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9) to South Korea’s An Jae-hyun.

Despite his efforts, Assar, the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup champion, was unable to overcome the Asian star. Jaehyun acknowledged the difficulty of the match, stating, “I played well today. Assar is an excellent player, so I did a lot of pre-match preparations, and it seems I executed them well.”

Meshref also put up a spirited fight against China’s Kuai Man, who sealed a comeback 3-1 win over the experienced Egyptian with scores of 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8.

Kuai praised Meshref’s abilities, saying, “It’s our first encounter, and my opponent is a leftie with great strength. At the beginning of the first game, I played a little too cautiously, which gave Meshref a huge opportunity to win. After losing game 1, I didn’t give up and focused on each point.”

17-year-old Goda faced European superstar Sofia Polcanova and, despite a strong performance, was defeated 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8).

Polcanova commended Goda, saying, “Today was a very difficult match. Hana Goda is a very good player, very promising. She’s still so young and has many good results. I had to fight for every ball. In the end, I think I managed my nerves quite well, and the first set was very important to win. I also like her very much; we practice a lot on tour, and she is very passionate about table tennis. I hope she continues to be her best, and a bright future is ahead of her.”