TheCable

Aruna Quadri has crashed out at the quarter-final stage of the WTT Star Contender in Goa, India.

Nigeria’s table tennis top seed was defeated by Felix Lebrun, the French teenage prodigy, on Saturday.

Lebrun, 17, took Aruna to the cleaners with a three-set victory, taking each set 11-4, 11-6, 12-10.

Aruna had defeated Germany’s Ruwen Filus 3-0 in the round of 32 before moving to the round of 16 where he swept aside the elder Lebrun brother, Alexis, 3-1.

The Nigerian however met his waterloo at the hands of Felix who avenged his brother’s defeat.

The 35-year-old Aruna previously defeated the younger Lebrun in their first meeting in 2023 but the bespectacled French teenager was ready for revenge.

He raced to a two-set lead before closing out the third on a deuce as Aruna tried to make an improbable comeback.

Aruna is the last African to exit the WTT Star Contender tournament following the ouster of Egyptian duo Hana Goda and Omar Assar.

The world number 14 is expected to lead Nigeria to the 2024 World Team Championships taking place in Busan, South Korea next month.