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Tag: ITTF

  • Aruna loses to Egypt’s Assar at ITTF Africa Cup

    Aruna loses to Egypt’s Assar at ITTF Africa Cup

    Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna on Saturday lost in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Cup final match to arch rival and defending champion Omar Assar of Egypt.

    The game played at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi saw the top African player losing 1-4 (8-11 13-15 7-11 11-9 7-11) to the Egyptian.

    To get to the final, Aruna had defeated Egyptian Mohamed Youssef 4-0 (11-9 11-5 11-3 12-10) in the semi-finals played also on Saturday.

    Meanwhile, the women’s event final saw 15-year-old Egyptian, Hana Goda, successfully defending her title against compatriot Dina Meshref 4-3 to clinch the trophy.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that three other Nigerians who participated in the tournament could not make a podium finish.

    The tournament which began on Thursday ended o Saturday.

  • Enitan Oshodi elected as ITTF Vice President

    Enitan Oshodi elected as ITTF Vice President

    Nigeria’s Wahid Enitan Oshodi has been elected the Executive Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Wednesday in Houston, Texas, US.

    From the 136 ballots cast, Oshodi polled 116, which represented 85.29 per cent of the total votes to emerge winner among the 14 candidates that vied for the top position.

    Oshodi, the second Nigerian to be elected to the world body after Segun George, will serve along seven other Executive Vice Presidents elected at the meeting.

    Also, Sweden’s Petra Sorling became the first woman to be elected President of ITTF.

    She clinched the number one office of the 95-year-old international federation unopposed having been nominated by the Swedish Table Tennis Association and accepted by all the 226 member associations across the world.

    Egypt’s Alaa Meshref was also reelected into ITTF Executive Committee (EC).

    It was pointed out that this would be the first time Africa will have two representatives in the executive council.

    Other elected Vice Presidents are Graham Symons (Australia), Alaor Azevedo (Brazil), Liu Guoliang (China), Roland Nathran (Hungary), Masahiro Maehara (Japan) and Khalil Al-Mohannadi (Qatar)
    The new president, along with the eight elected Vice Presidents, will join the ITTF Athletes Commission Chair, Zoran Primorac of Croatia and IOC Member Ryu Seungmin of Korea Republic to form the complete ITTF Executive Committee (EC).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oshodi was elected as the Deputy President of African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) earlier this year.

  • Table-Tennis: Aruna sets new record, rises to 15 in ITTF ranking

    Table-Tennis: Aruna sets new record, rises to 15 in ITTF ranking

    Quadri Aruna, Nigerian and International Table-Tennis player, has set a new African record as the first player from the continent to be ranked in top 15 in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Ranking.

    In the Week 37 ranking released on Tuesday by the world table tennis ruling body, Aruna moved four steps up the ranking ladder.

    The Nigerian, who was runner up in the men’s singles of Cameroon 2021 ITTF African Championships, is rated 15 on the log and erased Egypt’s Omar Assar’s record of world number 16, set in January 2018.

    Though Aruna lost to Assar 4-1 in the final of the tournament in Cameroon, he still gained ranking points which lifted him to 15, to join the elite club in the world.

    In the doubles, Aruna’s partnership with Bode Abiodun which won the men’s doubles in Cameroon, lifted them to 20th in the world.

    On his part, Assar who emerged the men’s singles champion in Cameroon, gained eight steps up in the ranking at 28, while his compatriot, Ahmed Saleh moved to 47th in the world.

    Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw moved 10 steps up to 59 while Olajide Omotayo of Nigeria rose to 87th in the world rating.

    In the women’s ranking, bronze medalist in Cameroon and six-time African champion, Egypt’s Dina Meshref, held on to the top in the continent after rising to 35th in the ranking.

    Meshref compatriot and teammate, Yours Helmy gained 16 steps to rise to 85th, while Nigeria’s Offiong Edem gained 12 steps to rise to 107.

    Meanwhile, China’s duo of Fan Zhendong and Meng Cheng held on to the pinnacle of the ranking as the best rated players in the men and women rating in the world, respectively.

  • ITTF confirms Aruna’s qualification for Tokyo 2020

    ITTF confirms Aruna’s qualification for Tokyo 2020

    The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday confirmed the qualification of Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna for the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

    ITTF’s Competition Director, Gabor Felegyi, announced Aruna’s qualification in a letter addressed to the President of Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and copied the President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aruna is the first African in Olympic Games history to make it to the quarter-final stage of the competition’s singles event.

    He is now expected to join 85 others across the globe to compete in the men’s singles event at Tokyo Olympic Games next month.

    “It is with great pleasure that I announce the qualification of Quadri Aryna to compete in the table tennis competition’s men’s singles event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

    ”His qualification is on the basis of World Ranking allocation, according to the June 2021 ITTF Olympic Qualification Ranking,” Felegyi stated.

    He however stated that the NOC is expected to confirm Aruna’s participation on or before June 16.

    NAN reports that, with this development, Aruna will be making his third appearance at the Olympic Games having featured at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

    He will join Olajide Omotayo, Olufunke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong to compete for Nigeria in the singles event at Tokyo.

    Aruna had stunned the world with his performance as the first African to reach the quarter-finals after edging out some of the best players in the world.

    These include former world number one Timo Boll of Germany.

    He later lost to eventual winner Ma Long of China in the quarter-final.

    Ishaku Tikon, Chairman of NTTF’s Caretaker Committee, while speaking on the development, said he has been proved right with the confirmation by ITTF.

    “The exploits of Aruna in the last two years were enough to secure a place for him in Tokyo.

    “When Aruna got injured during the African Qualifying Tournament in Tunis last year, I told the world that he will make it to Tokyo as he is ranked among the top 10 in the Olympic ranking.

    “In spite of the setback in Tunisia, Aruna did not relent in his performance and for me I am so excited as a Nigerian because his qualification will surely motivate others to look up to him and aim for the best in Tokyo,” Tikon said.

    NAN reports that 64 players have so far been confirmed for the men’s singles event while the remaining six slots are expected to be allocated as wildcards.

  • Quadri, Omotayo drop in ITTF ranking, Edem remains best-ranked Nigerian female

    Quadri, Omotayo drop in ITTF ranking, Edem remains best-ranked Nigerian female

    Nigeria’s duo of Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo have dropped in the April 2020 ranking released on Thursday by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

    In spite of this however, Quadri still maintains his status as the highest-rated African player in the world.

    Quadri, who is still recuperating from the thigh injury he sustained during the African Olympic Qualifying Tournament at Tunis in Tunisia in February, dropped by two steps.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he now occupies the 20th place in the men’s rating, two places down to 18th he was rated in March.

    Omotayo, who is the only Nigerian male athlete to have secured his place at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, also dropped to 92 in the world rating.

    Quadri, who is yet to taste action since the injury he sustained on February 28, is yet to resume full training in his Lisbon base in Portugal.

    This is also as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced the Portuguese Government to lock down major cities in the European country.

    Omotayo who has also been stranded in Italy since the pandemic dropped down the ladder by one step to be rated 92 in the world.

    NAN reports that Egypt’s Omar Assar also dropped to 38 from 35.

    Among the biggest movers in the world is Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw who rose to 69 in the world after moving up by six steps.

    The Senegalese has also secured a place at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

    In the women’s rating, Egypt’s Dina Meshref maintains her position as the African champion and she still occupies 32nd place in the world.

    In spite of dropping by eight steps to 120 in the world rating, Offiong Edem remains the highest-ranked Nigerian female player in the world.

    Olufunke Oshonaike occupies 174th place in the rating.

    At the peak of the men’s ranking is China’s Fan Zhendong, who replaced compatriot Xu Xin to top the rating.

    Also, China’s Chen Meng continues her reign as the women’s world number one.

    Japan’s Mima Ito shot up to second place in the women’s singles list —- her highest ever position.

    It was a reward for consistent displays so far in 2020, which saw her take the crown at the Hungarian Open.

    This was in between reaching the semi-final of the German Open and final of the Qatar Open.

    Meanwhile, following the current suspension of ITTF events in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest ITTF Rankings will be frozen until activities resume.

    The decision to freeze the world ranking was taken at the ITTF Executive Committee meeting held on April 1, following the recommendations from the World Ranking Group and the Athletes Commission.

  • ITTF Ranking: Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri moves two steps up as Chinese becomes No.1

    ITTF Ranking: Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri moves two steps up as Chinese becomes No.1

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  • Quadri ends 2017 at 21 in latest ITTF ranking

    Aruna Quadri has set a new personal record for Nigeria and himself as he is now ranked 21 in the end-of-the-year ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

    The ranking was released on Thursday by the world table tennis ruling body.

    The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), in a statement on Friday, said Quadri has now surpassed his best of 25th in the ranking.

    “This has helped him to displace Egypt’s Omar Assar as the continent’s best-ranked player in the world.

    “In spite of not matching the record set by Assar as the first African ranked among the top 20 in the world, Quadri ends the year as the highest-ranked African in the latest rating,’’ the Nigerian sport ruling body said.

    Following victories over top-ranked players at the Swedish Open, Quadri amassed 50 points to improve from 2457 to 2507 points to be rated 21 in the world ranking.

    Prior to this latest ranking, the best achieved by Quadri in the world rating was 25 and with this, he has set a new record for Nigeria and himself.

    Assar’s failure to be more active seems to have affected his rating, as the Egyptian dropped from 20 to 26 in the latest ranking.

    “The feat is commendable as Quadri continues to put Nigeria and Africa on the world map with his scintillating performance at global stage.

    “We are excited about this latest ranking and this goes to show that our efforts are paying off and what we just need to do is to ensure we unearth and nurture more players like Quadri.

    “Also, the young players should take a cue from Quadri in terms of his diligence, professionalism and dedication to the trade.

    “I hope and believe they can follow his footsteps in their career to make it to the top,” the President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Ishaku Tikon, said.

    In the women’s ranking, Egypt’s Dina Meshref dropped to 110 from 92.

    But she still remains Africa’s best-ranked female player in the world, while Funke Oshonaike’s lack of playing time at global level continues to have a negative effect.

    She dropped from 227 to 262 in the latest ranking.