Aruna’s Decade-Long African Dominance Ends in New ITTF Rankings

Aruna’s Decade-Long African Dominance Ends in New ITTF Rankings

By Admin 

Nigeria’s leading table tennis star, Quadri Aruna, has recorded his steepest decline in more than a decade in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings, dropping 20 places to 76th in the world and fourth in Africa, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The latest rankings mark the first time since 2014 that Aruna has fallen outside the top two players on the continent.

For much of the past decade, Aruna and Egypt’s Omar Assar have dominated African table tennis. Assar continues to hold the continent’s top spot and is currently ranked 31st in the world.

In the updated rankings released on Monday, Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz climbed to second in Africa and 57th globally, overtaking Aruna. Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa, who defeated the Nigerian in the semi-finals of the ITTF Africa Cup earlier this year, also moved ahead to third in Africa and 75th in the world.

Aruna now occupies 76th place globally with 463 ranking points, one spot behind Bouloussa.

Assar remains Africa’s highest-ranked player with 1,009 points, while Abdel-Aziz sits second on the continent with 601 points, underlining the significant gap between the Egyptian star and the chasing pack.

Elsewhere, Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo slipped six places to 193rd in the world, ranking 12th in Africa. Rising talent Matthew Kuti is ranked 198th globally and 14th in Africa, while Abdulbasit Abdulfatai occupies 226th place in the world rankings.

Taiwo Mati, who recently secured a podium finish in the men’s doubles event alongside Kuti at the WTT Contender Lagos, is currently ranked 255th in the world.

There was, however, encouraging news for Nigerian table tennis as 18-year-old Sultan Agunbiade surged 238 places to 268th in the world rankings after reaching the round of 16 at the WTT Contender Lagos.

The Lagos tournament winner, Anders Lind, also improved his standing, climbing from 17th to 14th in the world rankings.

At the top of the global rankings, China’s Wang Chuqin remains world No. 1 with 10,677 points.

In the women’s category, no Nigerian player currently features among Africa’s top five, although several athletes recorded improvements in the global standings.

Fatimo Bello rose 19 places to 171st in the world, while Ajoke Ojomu maintained her position at 175th globally.

Sukurat Aiyelabegan climbed six spots to 224th in the world rankings, while Favour Ojo is now ranked 254th globally.