Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna’s hopes of clinching his first trophy in 2025 were dashed after suffering a straight-sets defeat to Japanese sensation Tomokazu Harimoto in the semi-finals of the WTT Star Contender in Doha on Saturday.

The African number one, who had earlier secured impressive victories over British champion Liam Pitchford and Spain’s Alvaro Robles in the competition, fell 11-9, 11-3, 11-5 to the tournament’s top seed.

Prior to the semi-final clash, Aruna had shown remarkable form, particularly in his quarter-final encounter where he dominated Korea’s Park Ganghyeon 3-1 (11-9, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9) at the Lusail Arena.

The Nigerian star had started his 2025 campaign on a high note, dispatching British champion Pitchford in four sets after losing the first game.

He followed this up with a revenge victory over Robles, whom he defeated 3-2 in a thrilling encounter.

Despite the semi-final exit, Aruna maintained his record as the only male African player to reach the last four of the WTT Star Contender, a feat he first achieved in the 2022 edition of the tournament.

The defeat was particularly disappointing for the Nigerian, who had previously beaten Harimoto in their last meeting in Frankfurt, Germany.

Meanwhile, the tournament had earlier witnessed a major upset when German third seed Patrick Franziska was eliminated in the round of 32 by Park, despite taking an early lead in their five-set encounter.

Credit: punchng.com