For being the first African table tennis player to make it to the quarterfinal stage of the men’s singles at the Olympic Games, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has indeed raised the bar for upcoming players to aim at in their chosen career.
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the 28-year-old Nigerian created history by becoming the first African to reach the last eight stage in the men’s singles.
For this, the final day of the just concluded 2016 ITTF Africa Senior Championship in Agadir, Morocco, the world number 25 was honoured by the ITTF Africa with an award for outstanding performance.
The award was presented by the ITTF Africa President, Khaled El-Salhy, and Vice President of ITTF, Cherif Hajem.
The ITTF officials said that two Nigerians – Segun Toriola and Aruna Quadri – played an instrumental role in putting Africa on the world map in Rio and for this, the Executive Committee agreed that the two players must be acknowledged and honoured in order to motivate upcoming players to aim high like them.
El-Salhy said: “We were overwhelmed with the huge publicity that Africa got in the table tennis event at Rio Olympic Games because of the performance of Aruna Quadri because in the history of table tennis, no African has made it to the last eight of the Olympic Games.”
Emphasizing on the importance of motivating young kids to follow Quadri’s footsteps, he added: “Players like Aruna Quadri are very rare and I know his performance was due to his commitment and hard work which was obvious in his performance. This honour is not just to celebrate him but also to inspire the other players to work hard because without hard work and discipline it will be impossible for any player to make it to the world stage.”
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