Aruna Quadri has placed Nigeria on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) radar after setting a new personal record for the country and himself as he is now ranked 21 in the end-of-the-year ranking released by the sport governing body.
The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), in a statement on Friday, said Quadri has now surpassed his best of 25th in the ranking.
“This has helped him to displace Egypt’s Omar Assar as the continent’s best-ranked player in the world.
“In spite of not matching the record set by Assar as the first African ranked among the top 20 in the world, Quadri ends the year as the highest-ranked African in the latest rating,’’ the Nigerian sport ruling body said.
Following victories over top-ranked players at the Swedish Open, Quadri amassed 50 points to improve from 2457 to 2507 points to be rated 21 in the world ranking.
Prior to this latest ranking, the best achieved by Quadri in the world rating was 25 and with this, he has set a new record for Nigeria and himself.
Assar’s failure to be more active seems to have affected his rating, as the Egyptian dropped from 20 to 26 in the latest ranking.
“The feat is commendable as Quadri continues to put Nigeria and Africa on the world map with his scintillating performance at global stage.
“We are excited about this latest ranking and this goes to show that our efforts are paying off and what we just need to do is to ensure we unearth and nurture more players like Quadri.
“Also, the young players should take a cue from Quadri in terms of his diligence, professionalism and dedication to the trade.
“I hope and believe they can follow his footsteps in their career to make it to the top,” the President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Ishaku Tikon, said.
In the women’s ranking, Egypt’s Dina Meshref dropped to 110 from 92.
But she still remains Africa’s best-ranked female player in the world, while Funke Oshonaike’s lack of playing time at global level continues to have a negative effect.
She dropped from 227 to 262 in the latest ranking.
