Quadri Aruna

Quadri Akinade Aruna (born 9 August 1988, in Oyo, Nigeria) is a professional Nigerian table tennis player.

He competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals in 2016.

He is the first African player to be ranked top 10 in the world.

At the World Cup 2014, he reached the quarter-finals in the Men's Singles competition.

In 2014, he was ranked number 30 in world table tennis, and the International Table Tennis Federation named him the Star Player of the year.

He was also part of the Nigerian team that won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

At the club level, Aruna Quadri recently teamed up with TTC RhönSprudel Maberzell Fulda, a top club in the German Bundesliga Table Tennis.

Aruna entered the Men's Singles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics as seed number 27.

In the first round, he played and defeated Slovakian player Wang Yang (4-1).

In the second round, Aruna played number 5 seed Chuang Chih-yuan.

Chuang grew repeatedly frustrated as the match went on, uncharacteristically missing his signature forehand attacks and was at a loss against Aruna's unorthodox style.

Aruna defeated Chuang in arguably the tournament's biggest upset without losing a single set (4-0).

In the third round, Aruna faced world-renowned German player Timo Boll.

Aruna defeated Boll (4-2), earning him a spot in the Quarter Finals.

In the Quarter Finals, Aruna faced the tournament's number one seed, Chinese player Ma Long.

Long overwhelmed Aruna with a fast pace, looping attacks.

The match proved entertaining as Aruna was forced to play defensively and back from the table, providing some memorable rallies.

Ultimately, Long swept Aruna to move onto the Semis (0-4).

Aruna's run in the Singles event of the 2016 Olympic games was quite easily the most remarkable achievement of his career at the world level.

Having upset number 5 seed, semi-finalist in the previous Olympics, and four-time World Tour Champion as well as ten-time runner-up, Aruna then also upset a European legend in Boll.

Although eventual winner Ma Long swept Aruna, Long also swept the Gold medal match.

He was the only African competitor to reach the fourth round.

In the team event, Aruna competed alongside Segun Toriola and Bode Abiodun.

The team was seeded against Team China in the first round, in which Aruna played and was defeated by Ma Long (1-3).

The team lost all three matches to China and was eliminated (0-3).

In the 2017 ITTF World Challenge Bulgaria Open, he advanced to the semi-finals, where he was defeated in a tight match by the eventual winner Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Aruna is known for his forehand-oriented playing style, which gets him many winners.

He is a Gewo-sponsored player.

Aruna competed in the 2017 ITTF African Cup, qualifying for the quarter-finals, where he defeated Algeria's Naim Karali (4-1).

In the semi-finals, Aruna defeated Egyptian player Mohamed El-beiali (4-3), qualifying for the finals.

In the Finals, Aruna played and defeated long-time rival Omar Assar in a close match (4-3).

Aruna won the event and became the 2017 African Cup Champion.

Aruna competed in the World Championships, seeded as number 30.

He defeated Chilean player Gustavo Gómez (4-0).

He was defeated in the second round by Danish player and number 34 seed, Jonathan Groth.

Aruna competed in the 2018 ITTF African Cup, placing first in group 2, allowing him to qualify for the Quarter Finals.

In the Quarter Finals, Aruna defeated Derek Abrefa (4-0).

In the Semi-Finals, he defeated Ahmed Saleh (4-1), allowing him to advance to the finals of the African Cup.

The 2018 African Cup Finals featured two of the only African players within the top 50 of the ITTF World Rankings, 2015 and 2016 Champion Omar Assar against reigning 2017 Champion Aruna.

Assar, seeking retribution for last year's defeat, played a very aggressive attacking game, winning the first two games with close scores (10-12 and 8-11).