Quadri returns to 31, as Assar climbs to 37 in ITTF ranking

DESPITE losing his first round matches at both the Kuwait and Qatar Opens, Aruna Quadri’s presence at these tournaments has earned him a step up in the latest ranking released late on Wednesday by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

  Winner of the ITTF Africa Senior championships, Egypt’s Omar Assar, achieved the biggest jump of his career by climbing from 43 to 37 in the world.

  Nigeria’s Quadri 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. His quarterfinal exit at the ITTF Africa Senior Championships in Cairo, where Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali beat him, forced his rating to drop to 32.

  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 limited him to move just one step up in the ranking ladder.

  Unlike Quadri, Egypt’s Assar won the Cairo tournament and got to the quarterfinal stage of the Qatar Opens, performances, which aided his giant leap in the February and March rankings.

  In January, his name was conspicuously missing in the world ranking due to his inactivity toward the end of 2014. But the Egyptian made an emphatic return to the rating after winning the ITTF Africa Senior Championships in Cairo. This pushed him to 43rd position in the world. His performance at the Qatar Open further improved his world rating, as the former African Junior champion is now rated 37 in the world, six steps below Quadri.

 Quadri and Assar may come face-to-face in the final of the Lagos ITTF World Tour after both players were seeded number one and two by the organizers.