Quadri Aruna Crashes Out Of Muscat Contender After Defeat To Romania’s Ionescu

Nigerian table-tennis icon, Quadri Aruna’s time at the 2025 Muscat Contender came to an unexpected halt on Thursday after a gripping five-game battle that ended in a 3-2 loss to Romania’s Eduard Ionescu.

The round of 32 clash at the Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex kept spectators on edge, with both players exchanging control throughout the match.

Quadri Aruna, who entered the draw as the ninth seed and skipped the opening round, was widely tipped to progress. After losing the first game, he found his rhythm and stormed through the next two games 11-4 and 11-8. The Nigerian looked ready to push through, but Ionescu refused to let the match slip away.

The 21-year-old Romanian, ranked 44th in the world, clawed back the fourth game 11-9 and then produced an ice-cool finish in the decider, winning 12-10 to complete the upset. The entire contest lasted a little over 32 minutes, yet every phase felt like a momentum shift.

Aruna actually finished with more total points, 47 to Ionescu’s 46, but the Romanian claimed the rallies that mattered most. Both players were nearly identical on serve, with Aruna winning 24 points on his serve and Ionescu 23.

They also shared 23 points apiece on return. At one stage, Aruna put together seven straight points, but Ionescu’s persistence eventually tilted the match in his favour.

With Aruna out, Egypt’s Omar Assar now stands as the only African remaining in the men’s singles event. Assar defeated South Korea’s Gyuhyeon Park and now faces world number seven Felix Lebrun in the next round.

Ionescu moves on to today’s round of 16, where he will try to extend his surprise run against fifth seed Woojin Jang. The tournament boasts a total prize purse of $300,000 and awards 600 ranking points to the winner.

Aruna leaves Muscat with $17,000 and 25 ranking points.