Quadri Aruna’s run at the 2025 Muscat Contender came to a disappointing end on Thursday following a narrow 3–2 defeat to Romania’s Eduard Ionescu in a thrilling round of 32 clash at the Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex.

Seeded ninth, Aruna entered the competition in the round of 32 after receiving a bye, but the 27th-ranked Nigerian could not overcome 21-year-old Ionescu, who is ranked 44th in the world. The Romanian held his nerve in a tense deciding game to seal a 12–10 victory.

The encounter—lasting 32 minutes and 27 seconds—was a momentum-swinging duel. Aruna recovered from losing the first game to take the second and third 11–4 and 11–8, but Ionescu stormed back to win the fourth 11–9 before edging the fifth 12–10.

Despite winning 47 total points to Ionescu’s 46, Aruna fell short at the key moments. Match stats showed both men won 23 points on their opponent’s serve, while Aruna edged the service-point battle 24–23. The Nigerian at one point strung together seven straight points, but Ionescu’s determination proved decisive.

Aruna’s exit leaves Omar Assar as Africa’s sole representative in the men’s singles. The Egyptian advanced past South Korea’s Gyuhyeon Park in his round of 32 tie and now faces top seed and world No. 7 Felix Lebrun in a blockbuster round-of-16 showdown.

Ionescu moves on to face fifth seed Woojin Jang on Friday as he looks to extend his impressive run at the $300,000 event, where a victory carries 600 ranking points.

Aruna earned $17,000 and 25 ranking points for reaching the round of 32 — a setback, but with several major events still ahead, his season remains far from over.