Aftermath of appeal over point deduction, Aruna now 16th in the world ranking

Posted : 06 June 2024

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Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has won his appeal to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Executive Board against the points penalty issued to him for the World Team Table Tennis Championship in Busan, Korea.

According to the publication notes for the latest world rankings released on Tuesday, the ITTF revealed that Aruna’s appeal was successful, and his penalty has been removed.

As a result, the newly crowned ITTF Africa Cup winner climbed one spot to the 16th position in the world rankings, maintaining his status as the top-ranked player on the continent.

Aruna took to his Instagram page to express his gratitude, writing, “Thank you @ittfworld. Thank you all for your support. One penalty gone.”

Recall that Aruna had complained about the unfair treatment by the table tennis body last April. The ITTF had stripped him of points, causing him to lose the number one position on the continent to Egypt’s Omar Assar.

In an Instagram post, the 35-year-old accused the World Table Tennis (WTT) of racism and questioned why he was expected to prioritize WTT tournaments, labeled as mandatory, over his club engagements where he was being paid, despite being owed previous prize money from WTT events.

“Why exactly must participation in World Table Tennis CHAMPIONS be mandatory when I have no paid contract with you?” Aruna asked.

“Why exactly do I have to leave my club that is paying me a salary and play WTT EVENTS? Why exactly is this really mandatory?”

Aruna also shared his struggles with illness, which caused him to miss one of the tournaments.

“I was supposed to travel to Korea; unfortunately, I was very sick with chronic diarrhea for five days. Do I really need to die because I wanted to play?” he questioned.

In other Nigerian rankings, Olajide Omotayo maintained his position as the 102nd player in the world, while Bode Abiodun remained at 168th. Matthew Kuti dropped two places to 186th, and Amadi Omeh, completing the nation’s top five, also dropped one spot to 247th in the world.

In the women’s singles, Offiong Edem remained Nigeria’s number one player, dropping three places to 112th in the world. Fatimo Bello held steady at 160th, as did Hope Uduaka at 172nd and Ajoke Ojomu at 218th. Esther Oribamise moved down one spot to 234th in the world.

Aftermath of appeal over point deduction, Aruna now 16th in the world ranking

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