Table Tennis: Nigeria’s Quadri Moves To No 73 In World Ranking

By Taiwo Adelu

From being ranked 257 in February this year, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri became the biggest mover in the September International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking as one of Africa’s top player at 73 in the world.

In August, Quadri was listed as one of the active player by ITTF and as if that was not enough the Oyo state-born player ranked 111 caused two major upsets at the last Czech Open when he defeated world’s number 24 and 38 to make it to the last eight of the championship.

As the first Nigerian to achieve such feat in an ITTF Pro Tour he moved from 111 to be rated 73 in the world following the release of the September ranking by the world table tennis ruling body.

With this feat, Quadri is now the second highly rated African player in the world behind Egypt’s Omar Assar, who is in top 70. At the Czech Open, Assar failed to make it beyond the second round (round of 32), while Quadri made it to the quarterfinal of the competition where he was edged out by eventual runner’s up of the tournament, Germany’s Patrick Baum.

ITTF Publication Director, Ian Marshall, said that Frenchman Simon Gauzy, Spain’s He Zhiwen, Russia’s Kirill Skachkov and the Slovak Republic’s Wang Yang make progress in the September ranking following their Czech Republic excursion but none can match Nigeria’s Quadri.

“Kirill Skachkov moves from No.73 to No.63 and Simon Gauzy from No.88 to No.65; whilst He Zhiwen advances from No.92 to No.79 and Wang Yang from No.108 to No.93. However, compared with Quadri they are minor moves; the 26 year-old Nigerian advances from a previous best of number 111 to 73, following his Men’s Singles quarter-final appearance,” Marshall said.

President, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi, said that Quadri’s performance in recent time did not come on a platter of gold, as the player remains one of the most disciplined and hardworking players that the country had in recent times.

“I am not surprised that Quadri is doing well in recent time, he has always being a very disciplined and hardworking player who just needs to be supported. For us, it is a good one for the country, as the federation would continue to support the players in their quest to progress in their career. We are proud of what Quadri has done and we hope sponsors will avail themselves the opportunity to support the player in his quest to make it to the zenith of the game in the world,” the NTTF boss said.