Less than two months after surrendering the top spot in the continental rankings, Quadri Aruna has regained his place after jumping to 17th in the latest ITTF rankings released on Tuesday by table tennis’ world governing body.
Aruna, who recently re-claimed the ITTF Africa Cup in Rwanda earlier this month, moved up two rungs on the ranking ladder to become the highest-ranked African in the world.
Egypt’s Omar Assar, who toppled Aruna in the last ranking, dropped to 22nd in the world after occupying the top spot in Africa for the past two months following his triumph at the last African Games in Ghana.
Assar’s drop in the world rankings was due to the expiry of the quarter-final points he collected at the Durban 2023 World Championships in South Africa and this automatically caused him to lose some points which led to his drop in the rankings.
Africa’s biggest moves in May include Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beyali, who became the third-ranked player on the continent and 49th in the world after finishing second at the ITTF Africa Cup 2024. He lost 4-0 to Aruna in Kigali.
Despite falling one place, Egypt’s Dina Mesref remained atop Africa as the 24th best player in the world.
Mesref’s compatriot Hana Gonda remained static at 31st in the world rankings.
With all continental quotas for the Olympics completed, players are now eager to punch their tickets to Paris through the world rankings, which will come into effect on June 11 as the ITTF finalizes the Olympic entry list of 2024 in France.
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