Japan’s Jun Mizutani had confessed that the victory over Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri was made possible after taking several hours to watch the videos of the Nigerian before the round of 16 encounter at the 2017 ITTF World Cup.
Just as South Korea’s Lee Sangsu acknowledged that Quadri has the quality to beat any top player in the world especially with his powerful forehand on table.
The world number seven who was booted out in the quarterfinal by France’s Simon Gauzy told NationSport that minutes after he knew that he would be facing the Nigerian, he said: “I knew that I had to avoid what befell my compatriots by ensuring that I did not allow Quadri to have any breathing space in the match. A day before the match, I took my time to watch several of his videos and it was there id discovered that I should not allow him to use more of his forehand because he has a lot of power in that forehand. He is also very fast.”
“Apart from the forehand and his swiftness on table, he was not at home with short balls and this really helped him to play close to the table. But I must admit that he is a serious threat to any player in the world particularly with his powerful forehand which is very difficult to control. We hope to meet in the Champions League later this week and I will surely be ready for him again,” Mizutani said.
For Korea’s Lee Sangsu, beating Quadri in the group stage was not child’s play as the Nigerian nearly scuttled his chance of advancing to the next round. “He is very powerful on forehand and this was very hard for me to control so I decided to play more to his backhand which he also adjusted. I think it was my experience and calmness that saved me from losing to him.”