Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has leapfrogged Egyptian Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world following the Week 12 ranking released on Tuesday, Afrosport reports.
Aruna, who now sits 18th in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Ranking, moved a spot upward to overtake Assar, who dropped two places to now occupy the 19th position.
Albeit finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup in Tunisia last month after losing to Assar, the 36-year-old impressed with his performances at this year’s WTT tournaments.
The Nigerian, who is the only African to have reached the semifinals of the WTT Contender Doha, matched his 2023 achievement by repeating the same feat earlier this year with another semifinal berth.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth moved a spot to 17th, while Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali, who exited the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup in the quarterfinal stage, climbed three spots to 45th to continue as the third-best ranked African men’s player in the world.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s singles ranking, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the Week 12 ITTF ranking.
Goda’s compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained unmoved at 33rd, holding onto her position as the second-best ranked women’s player in Africa.
The top five in the world, meanwhile, remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
