Quadri, Omotayo Bow Out Of Austrian Open

Quadri, Omotayo Bow Out Of Austrian Open By Olalekan Okusan Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo were in Linz to garner ranking points but their stay in the ITTF World Tour tagged Austrian Open was short-lived after they were shown the exit by Chinese stars in the second round of the preliminary stage of men’s singles. On Tuesday, Omotayo was on the winning side when he overwhelmed Qatar’s Abdulaziz Bu Shulaybi 4-0 (11-8, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8) in the first round of the preliminary stage to set up a second round battle against China’s Dingshuo Liu. Boosted by the win against the Qatari, Omotayo started well against the Chinese star but his efforts could not match his opponent as the Nigerian conceded defeat at 4-1 (7-11, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8, 4-11). Unlike Omotayo who began his campaign in the first round, Quadri got a bye to the second round of the preliminary but his presence in the competition lasted for less than one hour as fell gallantly to China’s Ziyang Yu 4-1 (6-11, 9-11, 12-10, 5-11, 10-12) to play his last match in the competition. A disappointed Omotayo believes there are still more opportunities for him in near future as the experience he has been garnering competing at top level would aid his performance subsequently. Surprise semi-finalist three days ago at the Swedish Open, China’s Zhou Qihao started well at the very beginning. The 21- year- old was in action in the opening preliminary round of the Men’s Singles event in the qualification tournament that precedes the main draw. The Chinese star made a most promising start in his efforts to replicate the achievements in the Swedish capital city. In his opening contest he beat Romania’s Rares Sipos (11-2, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6), a young man who is one of Europe’s major hopes for the future. It was in Stockholm that Zhou Qihao blossomed, the quarter-final win over Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov being the result that attracted the attention.