Aruna Quadri, on Sunday, advanced to the next round of the WTT Singapore Smash Men’s Singles event, taking place at the Singapore Sports Hub’s OCBC Arena.

Quadri laboured to see off Germany’s Ruwen Filus, in a match that ended 3-2 (14-12, 6-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-9), and the victory ensured his progress to the round of 32.

“It was 5-1 (to him), and then 7-2, and suddenly I won five points in a row.

“That was a very good comeback, and I was focused because six or seven years ago, I experienced almost the same situation against him and I knew it was not over until it’s over.

“I kept my cool, I kept playing and in the end, he made a few errors and that made a big difference,” He admitted.

The African champion added: “It’s not just that he was a tough opponent, we were together in the same team (in the German Bundesliga) for about two years and he knows me very well.

“I believe it was 50-50 before the game and as we have seen, it was 11-9 in the fifth game.”

Next up, Quadri Aruna will slug it out with French teenager Alexis Lebrun, who edged out China’s Yuan Licen in the next round.