Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Brazil’s Hugo Calderano will face off in the second round of the Men’s Singles at the WTT Singapore Smash 2025, rekindling their long-standing rivalry.
This match comes exactly a year after their last encounter at the 2024 WTT Finals in Doha. Calderano leads their head-to-head record 2-1, but Aruna won their most recent meeting, giving him a psychological edge.
Aruna reached the second round with a 3-1 victory over South Korea’s Oh Jungsun. Despite losing the first game 8-11, he fought back to win 11-8, 11-9, and 11-7.
Calderano had an easier path, defeating Portugal’s Marcos Freitas 3-0 in his opening match. The Brazilian will now take on Aruna on Tuesday, February 4.
With Egypt’s Omar Assar, Mohamed El-Beiali, and Youssef Abdelaziz eliminated, Aruna is the last African remaining in the Men’s Singles.
In the Women’s Singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda celebrated her 17th birthday with a comeback win over Spain’s Maria Xiao, triumphing 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 12-10. She is now the only African left in the competition after the exits of Dina Meshref and Mariam Alhodaby. Goda will face China’s Ma Kuai in the second round.
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