Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna was eliminated by Chinese Taipei’s rising star Feng Yi-Hsin on the opening day of the Men’s Singles event at WTT Star Contender Chennai, Sports247 reports.
The No. 4 seed was stunned in straight sets—13-11, 11-8, 11-8—in the second round.
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In their maiden encounter, the 22-year-old Feng dominated Aruna, securing his first victory against the highest-ranked African player in the world.
Meanwhile, it was a strong start for 2025 African Cup champion Omar Assar of Egypt, who began his campaign with a convincing first-round victory at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in India.
Assar, the No. 5 seed in the Men’s Singles, received a bye to the second round (round of 32) and put on an impressive performance against Hong Kong’s Kwan Man Ho.
Despite losing the first game 4-11, the Egyptian fought back to claim the next three games—11-7, 11-3, 12-10—securing his place in the third round (last 16), where he will face the winner of the match between South Korea’s Oh Junsung and Hong Kong’s Chan Baldwin on Saturday, March 29.
Elsewhere, 16-year-old Flavien Coton of France caused an upset, defeating No. 9 seed Alvaro Robles of Spain in four games (11-1, 11-3, 6-11, 13-11).
The biggest shock in the Women’s Singles event came at the expense of local hero Manika Batra, as the No. 9 seed suffered a round of 32 exit.
Facing 21-year-old Huang Yu-Jie for the first time, World No. 239 delivered a stunning performance, defeating Batra in a thrilling match (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9) and sending shockwaves across Chennai.
