Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has admitted that the slide in his world rating would help him to continue to work harder.
After the defeat he suffered in the men’s singles in Egypt at the recent International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championship, the table tennis star went down in the February world rating released by the world table tennis ruling body.
For bowing to Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali, Quadri dropped from 30 to 32 in the latest ranking, while his conqueror improved in his rating from 195 to 179 in the world.
Also, for emerging as winner of the ITTF Africa Senior Championship, Egypt’s Omar Assar is ranked 43 – a position which exceeds his previous best of 57 in July 2013.
For the Oyo State-born athlete, it is a wake-up call.
He said: “My ranking going down is a wake-up call, although I felt disappointed and at the same time I am happy that I gained more additional point to my ranking bonus points.
“It is a sign that I must work harder than before, and I am finally happy that Africa is having two players in top 50, with Egypt’s Omar Assar now rated 43.”
The 26-year-old helped GD Toledos to retain this year’s title of the Portuguese table tennis cup, concluded last weekend in Porto.
Playing from the preliminary stage to the semi-final, Quadri, supported by his Portuguese teammates, showed class and this was reflected in their semi-final tie against Juncal, a match which they won 3-0.
However, they were faced with a Herculean task in the final, as they were pitted against fans’ favourite, Sporting Lisbon.
