Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has been tipped among contenders at the 2023 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships holding in Durban, South Africa.
With less than five days to go before the championship gets underway, excitement are at an all-time high as the world’s finest players prepare to descend upon the International Convention Centre (ICC), Durban between May 20 to 28.
World Table Tennis (WTT) in a statement said Aruna’s performance on a big stage endeared him to all and sundry across the globe: “One of the standout names on the men’s singles entry list, Aruna heads to the South African coastal city surrounded by plenty of buzz as the African continent dares to dream.
“Crowned African champion for the second time in September 2022, Aruna has been bossing the continental scene for the best part of a decade, but it’s his performances on the world stage that have won the African king the enormous respect he commands today.
”Intent on putting his home continent on the international table tennis map, Aruna has inspired fans far and wide with his record-breaking efforts on the grandest of stages.
“In the seven years since, Aruna became the first-ever player from the African continent to earn a place in the World Top 10 of the ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings, achieving the feat in May 2022. He also secured a landmark quarterfinal finish at the 2021 World Championships Finals in Houston, another new high for African table tennis.
Other top African players expected to dazzle in Durban include the recent Africa Cup champion Omar Assar of Egypt as well as Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw.
In the women’s singles, all eyes will be on 15-year-old Africa Cup champion Hana Goda as well as compatriot – Dina Meshref while Nigeria will be represented by the duo of Fatimo Bello and Offiong Edem.