Quadri Aruna breaks World Record
Aruna has now emerged as the first African, Nigerian, and black player to be rated in the top 10 in the world table tennis ranking
Nigerian table tennis star Aruna Quadri has broken into the top 10 in the latest ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday.
The new feat was achieved by the Nigerian after the World Ranking System was approved by the ITTF Executive Committee.
According to World Table Tennis (WTT), Aruna has been outstanding over the years and it was only a matter of time for the King of Africa to be ranked among the top 10 players in the world.
The WTT stated: “Aruna has truly been mister consistent in both his performances and his participation. The Nigerian has spent the last year notching up a string of finishes inside the top eight while being one of the most active players on the WTT scene.
“It has included sensational headlines such as taking out China’s rising stars in succession at the 2022 WTT Star Contender Doha and a quarterfinal appearance at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals. It looks like the 33-year-old is just getting started,” the WTT also said.
With the new release, Aruna has now emerged as the first African, Nigerian, and black player to be rated in the top 10 in the world table tennis ranking.
Also, Egypt’s Omar Assar returned to the top 18 in the world ranking after the African champion moved eight steps up in the rating to occupy 18th place in the Men’s singles ranking.
Meanwhile, the trio of Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo, Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh, and Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw dropped in the ranking order.
Saleh dropped nine steps down to 58th, Diaw also dropped to 61st while Omotayo slid by 10 steps to occupy the 99th position.
Interestingly, another Nigerian Bode Abiodun moved 34 steps up to be ranked 97th in the world.
In the women’s category, Egypt’s Mariam Alhodaby has become the highest-ranked African female player. The 2021 African champion climbed to 40th in the latest ranking while teenage star Hana Goda moved massively up by 132 steps to be ranked 42nd in the world.
Egypt’s Yousra Helmy moved up by 14 steps to be ranked in the 67th place while Nigeria’s Offiong Edem gained 10 steps to be rated 89th.
