Record setting Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri is inching closer to inking another feat when the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) releases the February 2017 ranking.

In 2016, Quadri set unprecedented records after becoming the first African to qualify for the quarterfinal stage of the men’s singles of table tennis event of the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil as well as the only table tennis player from the continent to be ranked 25th in the ITTF world ranking.However, a new record may be in the offing for the Oyo State-born athlete in 2017 after his exceptional performance at the just concluded ITTF World Tour tagged Hungarian Open where his quarterfinal berth may have earned him some crucial ranking points that will push his ranking up the ladder when the February rating is released next week by the world table tennis ruling body.

Seeded number nine in the men’s singles of the Hungarian Open, Quadri beat two of the world’s best from Germany and the Czech Republic to become the only African to ever made it far in the history of the Hungarian Open.Having started the year as world’s number 25th, Quadri’s imminent rise will be officially confirmed on February 1 with the expected new ranking for February.Meanwhile, the 2014 ITTF Star Player will lead his French club – Jura Morez against Villeneuve, which has French internationals Adrien Mattenet, Antoine Hachard and Stéphane Ouaiche in the elite French league on January 21.

Report by Miyen Akiri