Nigeria’s table tennis star Quadri Aruna has continued his difficult run on the World Table Tennis circuit after suffering a first-round exit at the WTT Champions Chongqing.
Aruna was defeated 3–0 by France’s teenage sensation Félix Lebrun in the Round of 32 on Tuesday at the Bloomage Biotech Biohyalux E·C·M Arena in Chongqing, China.
The Nigerian lost in straight sets 11–5, 11–6, 11–3, as the 19-year-old Frenchman dominated the encounter with his aggressive play.
The loss extends Aruna’s winless run in the WTT Series this year to eight consecutive matches, leaving the African star still searching for his first victory on the tour in 2026.
Aruna’s last win in the WTT Series came in September 2025, when he defeated China’s Huang Youzheng in the Round of 16 of a WTT event.
Tuesday’s clash was the fourth career meeting between Aruna and Lebrun. The Nigerian has now won only once against the French youngster.
His lone victory came at the WTT Contender Durban in January 2023, where Aruna secured a narrow 3–2 win.
However, Lebrun has since taken control of the rivalry. The French player recorded wins in two meetings in 2024 at the WTT Star Contender Goa and again at the WTT Champions Chongqing, winning 3–0 and 3–2 respectively.
Aruna entered the match amid poor form on the WTT Tour, while Lebrun arrived with stronger momentum, having lost only once in his previous five matches — a 4–1 defeat to world No. 1 Wang Chuqin> at the Singapore Smash earlier this month.
Despite his struggles on the global tour, Aruna represented Nigeria at the ITTF Africa Cup in February, where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa.
Meanwhile, Africa’s other representative in Chongqing, Egypt’s Omar Assar, is scheduled to face Japan’s Yukiya Uda in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.
