Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has dropped from 38th in the world to 44th in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ranking, as Segun Toriola made a return to the rating after months of absence.
From his performance at the just concluded 53rd ITTF World Championship which took place in China, Quadri failed to make it to the second round of the tournament and that affected his position in the global rating.
The 2014 ITTF Star Player was sent packing in the first round of the men’s singles by India’s Soumyajit Ghosh in a disappointing game that ended 4-1.
Experienced Toriola, who has missed out from the ranking due to his inactivity at international competitions, impressed in China, winning all his matches in the preliminary round to secure a place among the top players that took part in the preliminary knockout.
He defeated Switzerland’s Lionel Weber to be listed among the top players that made it to the main draw of the championships.
Without any doubt, Toriola’s performance thrilled everybody at the tournament and definitely contributed to his return to the world rating where he is now ranked 153rd.
Also, Olufunke Oshonaike, whose performance was also a delight to the continen,t made a giant stride in her world ratings as she moved up from 213th to 196th.
Egypt’s Nadeen El-Dawalty dropped in the latest ranking.
The highest ranked female player from Africa remains Egypt’s Dina Meshref, who moved from 107 to 105 and she was the only female African player seeded at the world championships.
The best outing by an African player in China was performed by Egypt’s Omar Assar, who made it to the round of 32 of the men’s singles. That surely had a positive impact on his world rating as the Egyptian is now the best rated African player in the world.
The 2015 Lagos Open winner is now ranked 36th in the world.