Despite losing in the first round at the Kuwait and Qatar Opens, Aruna Quadri’s participation at the events has lifted him a step up in the latest ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
Nigeria’s Quadri moved from 73 to 30 in the world following his exploits at the ITTF World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany but his recent dip in play at different world championships contributed to his slide in December to 31.
His quarterfinal exit at the ITTF Africa Senior Championships in Cairo, after losing to Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali pushed his rating further down to 32.
For featuring in two of the Super Series in ITTF’s World Tour calendar this year, Quadri gained some points but his two losses in the tournaments may have affected him to just move by one step up in the ranking ladder.
Meanwhile, winner of the ITTF Africa Senior championships, Egypt’s Omar Assar achieved the biggest rise of his career by climbing from 43 to 37 in the world.
Assar won the Cairo tournament as well as make it to the quarterfinal stage of the Qatar Opens and those efforts aided his giant stride in the ranking in February and March.
In January, his name was conspicuously missing in the world ranking due to his inactiveness toward the end of 2014. But the Egyptian made an emphatic return to the rating after winning the Senior Championships in Cairo which gave him a phenomenal rise.
Nigeria’s Quadri and Egypt’s Assar have been seeded number one and two for the ITTF Lagos Open and might clash in the final.
