Nigerian Player Emerges Best In The World

26 year old Nigerian international tennis player, Quadri Aruna has won the 2014 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), making him the first African to win the coveted prize. At an award ceremony held at the Armani Hotel in Dubai  January 1st, Aruna beat Portugal's Marcos Freitas and Chinese pair Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin to land the coveted prize. He is ranked 30th best tennis player in the world.

Following his spectacular performances in 2014, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has been named by the International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF, as the Star Player of 2014.

The world table tennis governing body made the announcement at its award ceremony held on Wednesday in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, UAE.
At the colourful award ceremony held at the Armani Hotel, Quadri scooped two awards ahead of players from Asia and Europe to get a standing ovation from guests at the occasion.
The world’s number 30 was adjudged the best male player, beating world number one, China’s Xu Xin and his compatriot, Fan Zhendong, who is the 2014 Youth Olympic Games gold medallist as well as Portugal’s Marcos Freitas, who is the 2014 European Team Championships winner.

Aruna Quadri

Also, Quadri’s crucial winning point against Olympics and World Champion, Jan Zhike of China at the 2014 ITTF World Cup was adjudged the best in the Star Point category at the second edition of the award.
Speaking after the announcement was made, an elated Quadri described his award as the best in his career.
He also acknowledged the support he got from table tennis fans across the worl‎d.
“This is the best day of my career and I want to thank the organizers for considering me for this.

“I also want to thank all my fans all over the world for their support because this is unbelievable for me and I promise to continue to work hard,” Quadri stated in a press statement circulated by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation.
However, for the female star player of the year, China’s Ding Ning, 2014 ITTF Women’s World Cup winner and world number one defeated Feng Tianwei of Singapore, Kasumi Ishikawa of Japan and China’s Liu Shiwen, 2014 Asian Games champion to the award.
Other awards won at the ceremony include Para male star, para female star, star coach and fair play star of the year.
The ITTF Star Awards is the official awards ceremony organised by ITTF since 2013.
It is the most prestigious award aimed at recognising, honouring and celebrating the stars of table tennis, the athletes who have made table tennis their passion, career and life.
All the nominees for the awards attended the night of glitz and glamour, as athletes dressed up in their finest for the Awards Night.
It would be recalled that the Lagos state Commissioner for Youth/ Sports Development, Wahid Enitan Oshodi, in an interview he granted Naij.com about one month ago, predicted that Quadri, in no distant time, would become the best table tennis player in the world.