Nigerian table tennis icon, Aruna Quadri’s teenage daughter, Mariam Quadri has expressed appreciation with her participation at a senior ping pong competition so early in her career.
Sports247 reports that a massive breakthrough came for Mariam when the under-15 category player lined out in the early stages of the recent 3rd WTT Contender Lagos that had many foreign players in attendance.
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Though she could not go far during the highly-rated international competition, which was sanctioned by the World Table Tennis Federation (WTTF), Quadri’s 12-year-old daughter pulled off a shock by defeating Stacy Amady of Benin Republic in her first match.
That marked a dress rehearsal for her participation as a member of Nigeria’s team at the ongoing African Youth Table Tennis Championship, inside Molade Okoya-Thonas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
The Portugal-based lass, who is trained alongside her younger siblings – Aruna Jnr and Amirah – by her mother, Ganiyat Aruna, also a former national table tennis player, said she is delighted and grateful to be part of the unfolding action in Lagos.
Mariam declared, “I am happy and excited, because this is my first time playing at this level. My expectations are not too much. I’ll just try to progress through my youth and go step-by-step.”
The youngster, who earlier achieved a podium finish in the under-15 cadre of this year’s Joao Monteiro Table Tennis Championship in Portugal, confessed that being part of the WTT Contender made her feel special, and she thanked everyone who made it possible.
“It’s really nice being here, because I never felt I would be playing as a senior so early in Nigeria. So, I really appreciate them, and I thank them for always being there for me,” Mariam Quadri stated.
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