TABLE TENNIS: Aruna Quadri ranks 18th in the world

Nigerian Table tennis star, Aruna Quadri, has become the first Nigerian and the second African to make the top 18 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.

Quadri rose from 20 to 18 in the August 2018 rating released at the weekend by the world table tennis ruling body.

The fortune of the Oyo state-born athlete in the monthly ranking improved following his performance at the Australian Open where he made it to the last 16 of the men’s singles.

“I am so happy with the ranking particularly with my qualification for the ITTF World Cup in France,” Quadri said.

“Again, this ranking has shown that I should not relax but continue to work harder because remaining on top is one of the difficult tasks for any athlete. This goes to show that I must redouble my efforts in training and continue to compete in major competitions across the globe.

“I will not be carried away by this rating but be humbled by this feat and remain focused in order to maintain my status in the global rating,” he added.

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Quadri has been seeded number one at the the 2018 ITTF Challenge Seamaster Nigeria Open which is billed for this week.

His rival, Omar Assar of Egypt who still maintained the record as the first African player to be ranked in top 16 in the world, has been inactive in the last two months and he dropped from 21 to 23 in the latest ranking.

Also, the new leader on the ITTF World Tour Standings; China’s Xu Xin is the player to make the most significant progress on the Men’s World Rankings issued for August 2018.

He climbs three positions to no.5 to replace Germany’s Timo Boll who drops one position to no.3, being behind compatriot – Fan Zhendong who continues to lead the list.

One place lower for Timo Boll, it is the same for China’s Lin Gaoyuan who drops to no.4 and Germany’s OVTCHAROV Dimitrij who now appears at no.5.

Conversely, Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto progresses from no.8 to no.6 and is now ahead of China’s Ma Long and Korea Republic’s Lee Sangsu; each is one rung down the ladder lower than in July.

In the women’s rating, finalists at the recent 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australian Open in Geelong, with Liu Shiwen beating Ding Ning in all Chinese final, both make notable progress on the Women’s World Rankings for August.

Former occupants of the top spot, Liu Shiwen climbs four places to no.2, being one behind colleague, Zhu Yuling who continues to head the list; Ding Ning makes an even greater move. Previously at no.17, she is now in the no.7 spot.

Likewise women’s singles number one seed for 2018 ITTF Challenge Seamaster Nigeria Open, Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut advances from no.59 to no.39, DPR Korea’s Kim Song I from no.55 to no.45, Japan’s Minami Ando from no.74 to no.46 and Singapore’s Zeng Jian from no.60 to no.50.

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