Table Tennis · Players · No. 1
Quadri Aruna
The Oyo-born star who became the first African in the world top 10 and an Olympic quarter-finalist.
- 10Best world rank
- 4Olympics
- 2016Olympic QF
- 3African titles
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Quadri Aruna in our words
He is a professional table tennis player who was born on 9th of August, 1988 in Oyo State, Nigeria. He attended Oba Adeyemi High school, Oyo state, where he featured in so many table tennis competitions. He reached a career-high world ranking of number 10 in June 2022, the first African in the world top 10, and in 2014 he won the ITTF Star Awards for Male Star and Star Point of the year. He was one of the teams that won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and he also featured in the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals in 2016.
From Oyo to the world
Quadri Akinade Aruna was born in Oyo, Oyo State, on 9 August 1988. He made his name in school competitions at Oba Adeyemi High School. He moved to Europe in 2010, joining Sporting CP in Lisbon, where he stayed for ten years before moving to Germany’s TTC Fulda-Maberzell in 2020 and Russia’s Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg in 2023.
Rio 2016: history for Africa
Seeded 27th at the Rio Olympics, Aruna beat Germany’s Timo Boll and reached the men’s singles quarter-finals, the first African man ever to do so. He has played at four Olympic Games: London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
| Year | Achievement |
|---|---|
| 2014 | ITTF Male Star and Star Point of the Year; Commonwealth men’s team bronze, Glasgow |
| 2015 | African Games men’s team gold, Brazzaville |
| 2016 | Olympic quarter-final in Rio, beating Germany’s Timo Boll: a first for an African man |
| 2017 | ITTF Africa Cup champion |
| 2018 | Commonwealth silver in singles and team, Gold Coast; African champion in Port Louis |
| 2022 | African champion in Algiers; world No. 10 in June, the first African in the top 10 |
| 2023 | African champion in Radès; African Games silvers in Accra |
| 2026 | Qualifies for the World Cup in Macao; No. 1 draft pick of the Atlanta Blazers in Major League Table Tennis |
Africa’s first top-10 player
In May 2022 Aruna became the first African to enter the world top 10, peaking at No. 10 in June 2022. He has won the African Championships singles title three times (2018, 2022, 2023) and was named Outstanding Sportsman at the 2018 Nigerian Sports Awards. In 2026, at 37, he was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Blazers in America’s Major League Table Tennis.
More Nigerian table tennis
Table tennis in Nigeria
Nigeria, a table tennis power of Africa.Read more
History of table tennis in Nigeria
From Lagos Lagoon in the 1930s to the world top 10.Read more
Olympics, Commonwealth and African Games
Every Commonwealth medal and Nigeria’s African Games reign.Read more
Nigerian table tennis players
Aruna, Toriola, Oshonaike, Kaffo, Edem and more.Read more
Quick answers
Quadri Aruna: quick answers
Where is Quadri Aruna from?
Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria, where he was born on 9 August 1988.
What is Quadri Aruna’s highest world ranking?
No. 10, reached in June 2022. He was the first African ever in the world top 10.
What did Quadri Aruna achieve at the Olympics?
He reached the men’s singles quarter-finals at Rio 2016, beating Timo Boll, the best Olympic result by an African man. He has played four Olympics (2012 to 2024).
Has Quadri Aruna won Commonwealth medals?
Yes: men’s team bronze in 2014 and men’s singles and team silver in 2018.