Quadri Aruna

The evening of Wednesday 7 January will remain evergreen for Nigeria’s leading table tennis player, Quadri Aruna.

A quarter-finalist at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup less than three months ago in the German city of Düsseldorf, when on the first two days of play he stole the show, once again Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna hit the limelight on the evening of Wednesday 7 January in Dubai.

At the Dubai 2014 ITTF Star Awards Evening held at the Armanu Hotel, the world’s tallest building, Aruna won not only the Male Table Tennis Star of the Year Award; in addition he secured the Table Tennis Star Point Award.

With a never-say-die attitude, Quadri Aruna somehow kept the ball in play when all seemed lost in his last eight duels against China’s Zhang Jike in Düsseldorf.

He delighted the crowd and clearly delighted of the fans.

Aruna Quadri: beat two higher ranked players in July

Quadri Aruna attracted attention in the Men’s Singles event at the London 2012 Olympic Games; wearing his heart on his sleeve, the spectators in the ExCeL Exhibition Centre warmed to his efforts.

In the Male Table Tennis Star of the Year section, he received 29 per cent of the public vote and 27 per cent of the votes from the Expert Panel. China’s Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin, alongside Portugal’s Marcos Freitas were the other nominees.

Meanwhile in the Star Point category, where there was only a public vote; the duel between Quadri Aruna and Zhang Jike secured 33.50 per cent of the total vote; the exchange in the semi-final of the Men’s Singles event at the GAC Group 2014 ITTF World Tour China Open between Ma Long and compatriot Fan Zhendong finished in second place with 22.40 per cent of the votes.

*Reported by ITTF.com