Acting coach of the national table tennis team, Segun Toriola, has rued Aruna Quadri’s withdrawal from the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships after the country failed to make it to the knockout stage of the tournament.

The country’s top-ranked table tennis player through his Facebook page announced his withdrawal from the ongoing championship in Busan, South Korea.

Quadri revealed that he withdrew from the tournament after suffering food poisoning. The 2023 African Champion was expected to lead the Nigerian men’s team in their first group match against Japan on Friday but in his absence, Toriola’s team was walked over before losing to Madagascar in their second game.

Coach Toriola has, however, attributed the team’s early exit to the absence of their Aruna, and advised that it was time young players were exposed to top-class competitions just like Tunisia and other African nations have been doing lately, so they can learn from the veterans.