The dominance of the poster boy of Nigerian table tennis Quadri Aruna transcends beyond Africa, pulling strings and making waves in the ping-pong game on the international scene.
Despite losing his title as African champion to his arch-rival, Egyptian table tennis star Omar Assar, in February at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup in Tunisia, Aruna was announced as Africa top-ranked player in the ITTF ranking, leaping forward to the 18th from 19th position as released in March.
Aruna, who has won five ITTF Africa Cup titles, bowed to the pressure mounted by Assar in the final which ended in a thrilling seven-set battle, displacing him as the reigning champion. The victory handed Assar his sixth ITTF Africa Cup title.
The loss to Assar in the final is a reflection of Aruna’s performances at the Word Table Tennis (WTT) tournaments since the beginning of 2025, revealing his failures and resilience to achieve positive things despite the underwhelming results.
Aruna has participated in five WTT tournaments since the beginning of 2025, playing a total of nine matches, losing five and winning four matches, which does not reflect his abilities.
Therefore, Weekend Trust Sports takes a look at the performances of the right-handed player whose grip of the bat has averagely shone brightly in the Men’s Single at the last four WTT tournaments.
WTT Star Contender Doha
Aruna’s table tennis expedition in 2025 began on the soil of Doha, Qatar, from receiving a bye in the round of 64, to cruising to the semi-final where he lost 3-0 to the eventual winner, 21-year-old Japanese, Tomokazu Harimoto.
Aruna’s road to semi-final was laced with tough battles but rode victoriously as he defeated England’s Liam PitchFord 3-1 and Spain’s Alvaro Robles in the round of 32 and 16 respectively to progress to the quarter-final.
The quarter final saw a thrilling action as the Nigerian table tennis star ousted Korea Republic’s Park Ganghyeon, eliciting massive cheers and raising the hope to break the 2022 Doha jinx.
During the WTT 2022 Doha, Aruna’s exploits shone brightly, becoming a nightmare to the Chinese as he consecutively defeated Zhou Qihao, Zhao Zihao and Liu Dingshuo to end as a semi-finalist.
Despite losing to Japan’s Harimoto at the semi-final of the WTT Star Contender 2025 Doha, Aruna’s run was a display of his rare abilities on the table.
WTT Contender Muscat (Oman)
Aruna’s second WTT tournament in 2025 was a sharp contrast to his performance at Doha.
The Nigerian table tennis star suffered an early exit, losing 3-0 to 22-year-old Chinese Taipei, Huang Yan-Cheng.
WTT Singapore Smash
Aruna’s return to the WTT 2025 Singapore Smash signaled an arrival to take the bull by the horn as he defeated Korea Republic’s OH Junsung 3-0 to advance to the next round.
The next round witnessed the dominance of Brazil’s Hugo Calderano as he overpowered Aruna 3-1 to end the Nigerian table tennis star title dream.
WTT Champions Chongqing (China)
During this tournament, Aruna suffered an early exit as he lost to world No. 2 Wang Chuqin of China 3-0.
WTT Star Contender Chennai (India)
Sadly, the tale of Aruna’s early exits continued yesterday after he was beaten 3-0 by Chinese player Taipei’s Feng Yi-Hsin in a straight set, marking another lackluster performance for Africa’s highest ranked table tennis player.