Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna made a statement start at the WTT Champions Macao 2025, powering past China’s Huang Youzheng in straight games to reach the men’s singles round of 16 on Tuesday.
The world No. 26, who has endured a patchy run of form in recent months, looked sharp and decisive at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, clinching an emphatic 11-3, 11-8, 11-8 victory.
Aruna outscored Huang 33–19 overall, winning 19 points on his serve and 14 on return. His dominance was underlined by a seven-point streak and a commanding eight-point lead, while Huang’s longest rally stretched to just two points.
The win is a welcome boost for the 36-year-old African No. 1, who had managed only one victory in his previous six World Table Tennis appearances, falling to top players like Tomokazu Harimoto, Shunsuke Togami, Truls Möregårdh, and Omar Assar. Against Huang, however, Aruna’s composure and precision never wavered.
Wildcard entrant Huang, ranked 49th in the world, exits early, while Aruna advances to face either Germany’s Patrick Franziska or China’s sixth seed Xiang Peng in the next round.
The WTT Champions Macao is one of the sport’s premier tournaments, featuring a star-studded lineup including world No. 1 and defending champion Lin Shidong, Wang Chuqin, Hugo Calderano, Tomokazu Harimoto, and Lin Yun-Ju. Calderano, seeded fourth, also advanced with a straight-games win over Korea’s An Jaehyun. In the women’s singles, Zhu Yuling and Adriana Diaz booked their spots in the last 16.
