TheCable

Aruna Quadri has moved up a step in the latest ranking by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

Despite losing his first round matches at the Kuwait and Qatar Opens, Quadri’s presence at those tournaments earned him a step up in the ranking.

Omar Assar of Egypt, winner of the ITTF Africa Senior championships, achieved the biggest feat of his career by climbing from 43 to 37 in the world.

Both players could come face-to-face with each other in the final of the Lagos ITTF World Tour after they were seeded number one and two by the organisers.

Before now, Quadri had moved from 73 to 30 in the world following his exploits at the ITTF World Cup in Dusseldorf, Germany but his inactivity at global level contributed to his slide in December to 31.

He dropped to 32 after his quarterfinal exit at the ITTF Africa Senior Championships in Cairo where he was beaten by Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali.

For taking part in two of the Super Series in the ITTF World Tour calendar in 2015, 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.

Unlike Quadri, Egypt’s Assar won the Cairo tournament and also made it to the quarterfinal stage of the Qatar Opens which aided his giant stride in the ranking in February and March.