The much-anticipated rivalry between Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Brazil’s Hugo Calderano will resume at the 2025 WTT Singapore Smash as the two table tennis stars prepare to face off in the second round of the Men’s Singles event.
Their clash, set for Tuesday promises to be a thrilling encounter, reigniting the intense competition between the African and South American champions.
This showdown marks exactly one year since their last meeting at the 2024 WTT Finals in Doha, where Aruna emerged victorious.
Despite Calderano’s slight edge in their head-to-head record, with two wins from their previous three matches, Aruna will enter the match with renewed confidence after his recent triumph over the Brazilian.
Aruna advanced to the second round after a hard-fought 3-1 win over South Korea’s Oh Jungsun in the first round.
After losing the first game 8-11, Aruna mounted a strong comeback, winning three consecutive games, 11-8, 11-9, and 11-7, to secure the victory.
Meanwhile, Calderano made light work of Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, defeating him 3-0 to set up the highly anticipated matchup.
With Egypt’s trio of Omar Assar, Mohamed El-Beiali, and Youssef Abdelaziz all eliminated from the competition, Aruna remains the only African representative in the Men’s Singles event.
In the Women’s Singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda, who turned 17 on the day of her first-round match, secured a milestone victory over Spain’s Maria Xiao.
Goda, competing in her fifth WTT Grand Smash event, battled back from an early deficit to win 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 12-10, advancing to the second round where she will face China’s Ma Kuai.
However, Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Mariam Alhodaby were both eliminated in the first round, leaving Goda as the only surviving African in the Women’s Singles.
As the Singapore Smash continues, all eyes will be on Aruna and Calderano’s electrifying rematch, with both players eager to prove their dominance on the global stage.
