Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna is a household name in global table tennis with a huge following in major international tournaments across the world. Penultimate week, the 2014 World Table Tennis Player of Year who had an impressive outing at the 2023 WTT Singapore Smash in Singapore, believes his best is yet to come. OLALEKAN OKUSAN writes.
The 2023 WTT Singapore Smash held at the OCBC Sports Hub in Singapore was scheduled to start at 6pm but there was a long queue of fans at the arena two hours ahead of schedule due to an array of global stars on offer including Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna.
And so when Aruna was ushered into the fans zone to sign autographs for the waiting crowd, security personnel had a hard time controlling the fans as they surged forward to obtain Aruna’s autograph.
It took some time before they could secure a spot for Aruna to stand in order to meet the teeming fans. Such is the popularity of the unassuming World Number 13 beyond the shores of his country and indeed Africa.
Yet the fans may not have had any inkling about what Quadri Aruna was about to do at the event as the 2014 World Table Tennis Player of Year delivered, when it mattered most at the 2023 WTT Singapore Smash by stunning World Number 4, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, in the last 16 of the men’s singles of the prestigious tournament.
Of course, the defeat made headlines around the table tennis world, more so for the manner Aruna humbled the Japanese star.
Prior to the match, Aruna had never beaten the Japanese player in any competition, with all their past meetings ending in favour of the Asian star. But at the Infinity Arena on March 15, Aruna mesmerised Harimoto in a flawless performance, which became one of the star matches of the tournament.
Aruna’s ferocious forehand shots caught Harimoto napping in most of their exchanges, with the Japanese sometimes looking dazed. Eventually, Aruna’s backhand stroke coupled with his forehand topspin became the undoing of his opponent who also delved deeper into his formidable arsenal but could not find any answers to Aruna’s class and candour in the thrilling encounter.
And so in less than 30 fleeting minutes Aruna shot down one of the tournament’s favourites and Number 4 seed in a 3-0 win (11-7, 13-11, 11-7) to become the first African and Nigerian to reach the quarterfinal of the WTT Grand Smash.
Although Aruna later lost to Brazil’s Hugo Calderano in the quarterfinal tie, his performance earned him vital ranking points which aided his rise to 13th position in the latest ITTF ranking.
Aruna has made Nigeria proud around the world, wished his country could support him and other Nigerian table tennis players more both at home and on the international circuit.
“I don’t feel too good about the lack of adequate support from my country. Nigeria, because I see the kind of support other athletes get from their countries,” Aruna said in an exclusive interview with NationSport in Singapore. “I have not been supported that much despite what I have done for table tennis in Nigeria and my home state, Oyo.
“This makes me feel bad, sometimes. But I always try to forget this and keep on working hard.
“For years , I have benefited a lot from Lagos State and I got huge support from the state. Their backing has been unlimited despite not coming from Lagos State.”
He continued: “I am not getting any kind of support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development even as an elite athlete. Maybe I got support twice in the last eight years. When we compete at the African, Olympics and Commonwealth Games, we get support from the ministry.
“Also, we get support when we compete at continental tournaments like the African championship and cup. But I don’t get any support playing WTT tournaments. I spend my money on them.”
Nevertheless, Aruna is excited over his achievements on the big stage, especially in the colours of Nigeria, which he said he would continue to make proud:
He volunteered: “I’m always very happy to represent Nigeria with my achievements despite the limited support. I always give thanks to God for the things he has done in my life. I’m very happy generally, you know, I will never cry over anything. It is life; nobody will have it all.
“So I’m very happy and satisfied with the things I’m able to achieve in my career.
Aruna, who recently quit the German Bundesliga to join a top club in Russia – Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg, described his move as part of his adventure in the sport.
He said: “I enjoyed playing in the German Bundesliga a lot and I improved a lot in the league, but it was really tiring. I got several injuries over two and half years in the Bundesliga. I got injured almost every two weeks because it was competitive and tough, and it is the longest league in Europe so far.
“I was hoping to change because we were playing in three, four days interval. They always rush the league because of international tournaments.
“We played so fast and with this, I hardly got enough time to recover, be with my family and practice. “We were always travelling to play matches all the time and for this reason, I decided to leave the league.
“For me, it is very important to play more international tournaments than playing in the league. So I decided to leave because playing just in the Bundesliga and less international tournaments won’t make me improve that much.
“Of course, I have improved a lot while playing in the Bundesliga but I needed to also improve a lot in international tournaments.
“During my days in the Bundesliga, I missed several international tournaments because of the league engagement. This is one of the reasons I decided to quit for Russia.”
Though a continental laurel, the African Games medal is still missing in his kitty , Aruna believed he is getting closer to it.
“Everybody wants to win everything. The African Games is a multipurpose tournament. It is a continental tournament. I have won several African Cup and championship titles. Of course, I will like to win the African Games medal but if it doesn’t happen, it does not change much for me,” Aruna said.
At 34, Aruna believed he still has a lot to offer in the sport, adding quitting the stage is not on his mind at all.
He said: “We have seen several players playing until 45 and I really hope I can play until 40. We will see how it goes. These days, I do a lot of physical fitness in training so I think I still have more years to play.
“For me, it is not about how long I can play but what I can really achieve while playing and how many players I can really impact positively.
“These are the things I’m looking forward to in the future. I have been trying my best to support players from Nigeria. I think I have to do more and I will do more based on my capability. But I’m not thinking of retiring from international tournaments anytime soon.”
Meanwhile, Aruna has described the WTT tournament as one of the best things to happen to international table tennis as it gives players the opportunity to compete against the best in the world: “I think the WTT is doing very well. They are playing tournaments regularly these days and this is very important and good for table tennis. I feel it might get even much better if opportunities can be given to all, I mean to many upcoming players. Having many players in the tournament will make it better and more exciting,” Aruna stressed.