Quadri Aruna aims to bounce back in Addis Ababa
For the past decade, Aruna has been a pacesetter for the game not only in the West African country, but across the continent.
He remains happy with what he achieved at Rio 2016, becoming the first African athlete to qualify for the Olympic quarter-finals. His groundbreaking past still serves as a reference point for him moving forward.
“The memories of the Rio Olympics will remain in my memory forever,” the first African player to break into the top 10 of the ITTF world rankings tells Olympic.com about the still-fresh watershed moment in African table tennis. spoke. “Winning in Rwanda is also very special.”
It was his best performance of the year when he recaptured the ITTF Africa Cup singles title last May. Aruna hasn’t won since 2017, but is thrilled that the result has secured her a place in the qualifiers for the 2025 ITTF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
He improved his form by winning his third straight African singles title in the final quarter of the year and hopes to surpass Omar Assal, the only African giant to win three continental titles.
Dina Meshlev, who will be absent from this year’s tournament, and Ghana’s retired great Ethel Jacks are the other players who won three African Championship titles.
