Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has become the first African player to top the rankings of players in the Commonwealth.
According to the latest rankings released by the technical committee of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF), Quadri who has been playing a second fiddle to players from Singapore became the highest rated player among players from the Commonwealth nations.
Among the 277 players on the rankings, Quadri, who remains Africa’s best player garnered 2385 points to beat Singapore’s Gao Ning, who had 2384 points, as England’s Pitchford Liam had 2277 points to occupy the third spot on the ladder.
Africa’s most decorated star, Segun Toriola is rated 12th with 2014 points behind players from India, Canada and England.
Also Nigeria’s Bode Abiodun is ranked 22nd with 1822 points.
Prior to the May rankings, Quadri had been playing a second fiddle to Singaporean Ning.
In the women’s rankings, no Nigerian made the top 20 list as Edem Offiong and Olufunke Oshonaike were ranked 23rd and 26th respectively.
Meanwhile, Quadri’s aided his French team, jura Morez to remain in the elite division of the prestigious French Table Tennis League.
But it was not the same story for Omar Assar as the Egyptian failed to save his club from going into relegation.
With this development, Omar Assar will be campaigning in the lower division of the league next season.