Tag: Aruna

Nigeria’s Table Tennis sensation, Quadri Aruna, continues his steady rise on the ITTF ranking by gaining one step up on the ladder to occupy the 16^th  spot as the highest African ranked player.

According to a statement by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Aruna moves to the 16^th  position in Week 23 of the 2024 ITTF ranking on June 4.

Also, Aruna’s quest to garner more points ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France, has pitted him against home-boy Frane Kojic in the first round of the men’s singles at the 2024 WTT Contender Zagreb in Serbia.

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Aruna started his rise in the ranking in Week 22 after his round of 16 finish at the Saudi Smash last month.

He had his appeal accepted by the ITTF Executive Board for his World Table Tennis Championships points to be restored and this prompted his movement to 16th place in the latest ranking.

However, Aruna, awaits formal confirmation from ITTF for his qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

”The ranking will be used to determine the final list of players who will join the flight to France’s most populous city, Paris next month for the Olympic Games,” the statement added.

Aruna and Dina Meshref reclaimed the ITTF Africa Cup title after winning the 2024 edition at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.

Fresh from his exploits at the WTT Saudi Smash, top seed Aruna was again unstoppable with a commanding win in the final against Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali.

The one-sided final saw Aruna effortlessly take down the Egyptian with a 4-0 (11-5, 11-6, 12-10, 11-3) win to emerge as the new Africa Cup champion after losing the title to Egypt’s Omar Assar in 2018.

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 “There was never an easy win in any competition, and I am happy that I gave my best and my best resulted in the victory. It has always been in me not to give up, even when I am down, and I am happy that all my hardwork paid off with the victory. I must commend Rwanda for providing good facilities and their hospitality for us, the players, and I look forward to returning again to this beautiful country,” the World No. 19 said.

Similarly, Meshref was at her best after coming back from 2-0 down to defeat her compatriot, Mariam Alhodaby, 4-3 to become the new Africa Cup champion after losing the last two editions in the final.

The tournament has over 50 players from 14 countries taking part as players brace up for the African Olympic Qualification Tournament, which holds between  May 16  and 18.

The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has named Quadri Aruna, Offiong Edem, Olajide Omotayo and Fatimo Bello for the 2024 ITTF African Cup and Olympics Qualification Tournament taking place in Kigali, Rwanda between  May 12  and 18.

According to the  organisers, each country is expected to present two men and two women for the African Cup while Egypt as the defending champions in men and women will present three players each. Rwanda will present four men and four women as the host country.

In the list of participants released by African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Omar Assar of Egypt as the men’s singles defending champion will be joined by her compatriot – Hana Goda who will also be defending her title in the women’s singles.

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Aruna who had dropped in the ITTF ranking to 19th  place,  is hoping to use the tournament to climb his way back to the top of the world rating  but  he would  be facing a Herculean task against the Egyptian trio of Assar, Mohamed El-Beiali and Youssef Abdel-Aziz.

Omotayo who is yet to show why he was crowned the 2019 African Games champion will be looking forward to another showdown against some of the finest African stars in Kigali.

Edem who spearheaded Nigeria’s silver medal at the 13th  African Games will be looking forward to a repeat of her Accra’s superlative performance in Kigali.

Bello, a finalist at the 2022 edition must have put her below-par performance in Ghana behind her with the hope of re-enacting her 2022 form in Rwanda.

At the Olympics Qualification Tournament, Aruna will be eyeing his fourth Olympic Games appearance when the event kicks off on May 16 at the BK Arena in Kigali as Egypt will not be competing as they had already picked their tickets at the 2023 African Championships in Tunisia.

For his second-round finish at the 2024 ITTF World Cups in Macao, Omar Assar has risen to 14th  in the  latest Week 17 ranking  released by  the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) .

The three-time African Games champion became the only African that progressed to the second round in the men’s singles after beating Iran’s Nosham Alamiyan and Sweden’s Truls Moregard to top Group 16.

The Egyptian has been in fine form since his 4-3 triumph over Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna at the 13th  African Games in Ghana and his performance has rubbed positively on his ranking fortunes as he broke into the top 16 after Ghana’s win.

Following a remarkable performance in the group stage at the ITTF World Cup, Assar lost to  Japan’s Shunsuke Togami and in a hard-fought match to  stop the unbeaten run of the 2023 African Cup champion.

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From 16th  spot in Week 17, Assar rose to 14th  as the best rated African in the world and considered as his career best ranking. He will be heading to next month’s African Cup in Kigali, Rwanda, where he aims to defend his title against some of the finest players in the continent.

Meanwhile, Aruna who managed a 4-0 victory over Daniel Gonzalez of Puerto Rico and later lost 1-3 to Portugal’s Marcos Freitas to exit in the first round of the ITTF World Cups, remained static in 19th place in the world rating.

Despite withdrawing from the ITTF World Cups, Egypt’s Dina Meshref maintained his status as the best ranked African in the world rated 24th  while her compatriot – Hana Goda is second in the continent ranked 30th  in the world.

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna yesterday exited  the ITTF World Cups Macao 2024 after  losing 3-1  to Portugal’s Marcos Freitas in the deciding match of Group 15 of the men’s singles  even as Egypt’s Omar Assar remains the only African to progress to the second round of the tournament.

Despite starting well in Group 15, Aruna  failed to match the European southpaw. The first game was a close contest but Aruna surrendered at 12-10 while the second game panned out like the first as the Nigerian lost  11-9.

There was a ray of hope for Aruna in the third game, even when Freitas led from the start and the Nigerian closed  the lead at 9-8 only to lose at 11-9 to confirm the qualification of the Portuguese.

The fourth game was just a formality, won 11-3 by Aruna.

The defeat confirmed Aruna’s exit from the tournament despite having the record of being the best African in the tournament, having reached the quarterfinals in 2014 in Germany.

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Meanwhile, Egypt’s Omar Assar progressed  to the second round of the tournament after beating Swedish super star Truls Moregard in the final group 16 match .

Assar was at his very best against the Swedish national champion with a commanding display to beat the European star at 3-1 (15-13, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5) and this captivated fans at the Galaxy Arena.

The Egyptian had on Monday beat Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan 4-0 to emerge as the winner of Group 16 and secure his place in the second stage (knockout) of the $1 million prize money championship.

Also, African Champion Hana Goda was knocked out of the women’s event after losing 4-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9) to Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz in the final group match after losing 3-1 in her group opener to Portugal’s Fu Yu.

Egypt’s trio of Mohamed El-Beiali, Yousra Helmy, and Mariam Alhodaby also exited the tournament, while Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou lost all her group matches to bow out of the competition.

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, made a quick return to the top 20 in a new ranking released on Tuesday by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

In the rating list made public by the world’s table tennis ruling body, the Nigerian gained three steps up the ladder to occupy the 19th spot.

In the last two rankings, Aruna who slid to 22 after missing the World Team Championships in Korea as well as the WTT Champions in Incheon, fought his way back to the elite rank in the sport.

African Games champion, Omar Assar of Egypt, also gained one step up the rating to be ranked 16th in the world.

Also, Aruna started his campaign at the ITTF World Cups Macao 2024, on a good note.

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He won 4-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6) over Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez to set the final group 15 tie against Portugal’s Marcos Freitas on April 17 at the Galaxy Arena.

Aruna occupied the top spot in the group as Freitas had earlier beaten Gonzalez 4-0 (17-15, 11-7, 11-7, 11-1).

However, the Nigerian had more points than the Portuguese to be rated number one in the group.

The tie between Aruna and Freitas will decide the winner of the group who will then advance to the second stage (knockout) of the competition.

Speaking after winning his first match Aruna said: ”I’m very happy, It’s my third time here in Macao and it’s my first time winning a match here in Macao, so I feel very happy and excited.”

Aruna and Assar started well in their group with an overwhelming 4-0 win over Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan to set up a deciding group tie against Sweden’s Truls Moregard on April 17.

Following  the end of the table tennis event at the 13th  African Games, Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw, Nigeria’s Offiong Edem and Aruna Quadri have led the rising of African players in the 2024 Week 11 ranking released  yesterday by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

Diaw and Offiong were bronze medalists in the singles event and improved their world rating to be listed among the biggest movers in the world.

The Senegalese Diaw moved by 26 steps to be ranked 67 in the world while Edem gained 45 steps up to be rated 97 as the best ranked female Nigerian player in the world.

However, the biggest mover in the world is Algeria’s Lucie Mobarek, who was unranked before the African Games but moved by 544 steps to be ranked 103 in the world as the highest ranked Algerian female player in the world.

Meanwhile, Aruna maintained his status as the best ranked African player in the world rated 11th while African Games champion Omar Assar of Egypt is rated 22nd  in the world.

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Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Hana Goda are still the best ranked African female players rated 26 and 30 respectively

Men’s singles quarter-finalist, Khaled Assar of Egypt gained 146 steps to be rated 145 in the world.

The biggest beneficiaries are Tunisian trio of Wassim Essid, Youssef Ben Attia and Khalil Sta who were bronze medalists in the men’s team event  as they gained steps in their world ranking.

Teenage sensation Essid gained 83 steps to be ranked 206, while Ben Attia and Sta gained 221 steps to be ranked 237 and 238 respectively.

Apart from Edem and Mobarek who gained steps in the women’s ranking, Algeria’s Mallisa Nasri, Ghana’s Cynthia Kwabi and Uganda’s Judith Nangonzi.

Nasri gained 78 steps to be ranked 211, Kwabi earned 113 steps to be rated 237 while Nangonzi gained 135 steps to be ranked 245 in the world.

African table tennis’  leading light  including the  quartet  of  Quadri Aruna, Omar Assar, Dina Meshref and Hana Goda  have  sailed through to the quarterfinal stage of the singles event of the 13th  African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana.

Aruna, a two-time silver medalist had to work hard to defeat Algeria’s Stephane Quaiche 3-1 in an explosive match on the centre table.

2015 champion Assar of Egypt wasted no time in dismissing Algeria’s Sami Kherouf 3-0.

Also, men’s singles defending champion Olajide Omotayo of Nigeria was ahead of Tunisia’s Kalil Sta with a commanding 3-0 win.

Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu ended the dream of Tunisian teenage sensation Wassim Essid with a 3-0 win while Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali also Algeria’s Maheidine Bella 3-0 to hit the last eight.

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Khaled Assar of Egypt also joined the league of top players in the last eight with a dominating 3-0 win Tunisia’s Youssed Ben Attia, while Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw edged out bespectacled Mohammed Shouman 3-1 to qualify for the last eight of the men’s singles.

The women’s singles quarterfinal was dominated by Egypt as Meshref, Yousra Helmy, Hana Goda and Mariam Alhodaby picked their places in the last eight.

Nigeria’s only surviving player Offiong Edem beat Mariam Alhodaby 3-0 while Esther Oribamise fell 3-1 to Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou.

Algeria’s Lucie Mobarek and Lynda Loghraibi also sailed through to the quarterfinal.

Nigeria’s veteran Table Tennis player, Quadri Aruna, has gained one step up the ladder of the new International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking to become the world’s 12th best player.

The ITTF, quoting from the Week 7 ranking of 2024, released yesterday, stated that the African champion displaced former European champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany who dropped to the 13th  place.

According to the statement, Aruna’s performance at the World Table Tennis Star Contender Goa in India, aided him in his quest to rise above the 16th spot where he began this year.

It said Egypt’s Omar Assar though dropped to the 22nd  from 20th  in the ranking, yet, he still maintained his sway as the continent’s second-best player in the world.

 “Egyptian veteran Ahmed Saleh gained one step up the ladder to occupy the 52nd  place in the world ranking, while his fellow compatriot Mohamed El-Beiali almost an Egyptian is now ranked 63rd  after moving one step up the ranking.

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 “Taiwo Mati remains Nigeria’s second-best ranked Nigerian in the world as the Portugal-based star moved two steps up to be placed 103 in the world.

 “Egypt’s Mahmoud Helmy is the biggest mover in the ITTF ranking as the former African U-21 champion moved 498 steps up the ladder to be ranked 215 in the world.

 “In the women’s ranking, Egypt’s Dina Meshref maintained her status as the best ranked African occupying 27th place in the world ranking and she is closely followed by another compatriot Hana Goda who is ranked 30th.

 “Fatimo Bello remains Nigeria’s best ranked female player in the world, occupying 116th spot in the world,” it stated.

The statement added that later in the week, Aruna was expected to lead the Nigerian contingent to the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Busan 2024 in South Korea.