Nigerian table tennis star Quadri Aruna has returned to the top of the African ranking, less than two months after relinquishing his place to Egyptian rival Omar Assar.
The 35-year-old Nigerian, who recently won the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African Cup in Kigali, Rwanda, also rose in the world ranking, taking a leap from 19th to 17th in the new rankings released for Week 22 on Tuesday.
Aruna, with 1240 total points, reclaims his seat at the summit of African table tennis, leapfrogging Assar, the new world No. 22 and African No. 2, who occupied the top spot for a short while after his win at the last African Games in Ghana.
Assar’s downward movement in the world ranking can be linked to the expiration of the points he accumulated for reaching the Durban 2023 World Championships in South Africa, forcing him to lose points, hence his drop in the newly-released rankings.
Mohamed El-Beiali (518 points), whom Aruna defeated in the final of the ITTF African Cup earlier this month, dropped two places to 49 in the new world rankings, but the Egyptian retains his place as the third-best-ranked player in Africa.
Meanwhile, in the women’s category, Dina Meshref of Egypt, who was also crowned champion at the ITTF African Cup, remains atop the rankings on the continent despite dropping one spot to 24th in the world.
Her compatriot, Hana Goda, remains second in Africa and 31st in the world, with 658 total points.
