Quadri Aruna brings much joy with his aggressive forehand top-spins, forehand loops and his majestic presence while competing.
The 36-year-old from Nigeria, the highest world ranked player in the Ultimate Table Tennis league in Chennai at No. 20, will be one of the star players, who will be eagerly followed.
He has many firsts to his credit — the first African to reach the quarterfinals of Olympics (2016, Rio), the first African to make it to the quarterfinals of World championships (Tunis, 2021), and the first from Africa to enter the World’s top 10 (2022).
Quadri hasn’t lost any energy and enthusiasm in his quest to get back into the top 10. In this interview, the Nigerian speaks about India’s growth in TT, and why his country is not growing in the sport, among other things. Excerpts:
Aruna, your first visit to Chennai was during the first edition of UTT in 2017. You represented the team Stag Yoddhas then (now defunct). Can you jog your memories?
It was a great moment for me playing for the first time in UTT. I was happy and excited. The field was strong and some of the top players participated.
Between then and now, you would have played with lot of Indians on many occasions.
It was always difficult playing against Indians. Players such as Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai are all good. We have seen lot of improvement thanks to huge investment made in TT by the Government. It has materialised on the world stage for India. In any kind of tournament, they are contenders. We witnessed it in the Paris Olympics when Indian women did well. This is my fourth visit to UTT. My experience has been very positive. Actually, India and Nigeria have a similar culture. Playing in UTT has always been fun.
In the previous edition, U Mumba couldn’t make it to the play-offs. What is your expectation from this edition?
Even last year I was with U Mumba. The treatment was nice. It felt like a family. To represent the same team again makes me happy. The management has trust and belief in me. I have put everything behind me as to what happened last season. We just want to do better.
You have played for different clubs across the world. What difference did you find between them and UTT?
The format here is very difficult. The kind of system does not give any advantage to anyone. It is like 50:50. You have to start well. If you are down by two matches (lost the men’s and women’s singles), it is difficult to make a comeback if you are 0-2 down. You can’t say for sure that you can win. There is a lot of pressure.
What is your expectations from your team?
In almost all teams, there is some kind of a balance. I have already said that the format is difficult. We have a strong team. There is Manav Thakkar, Akash Pal, who is a young talent. I am hopeful that we can do much better. We are together as a team.
At the Paris Olympics, one of world’s best paddlers Ma Long retired. How was your association with him?
Ma Long is the greatest player of all time. He’s a role model. We will definitely miss him. Probably, I will play doubles with him. It was a blessing to see him play. I did play against him in the singles quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics. We exchanged T-shirts after the match. He is an amazing personality.
You have played in four Olympics from 2012 London to 2024 Paris. This time, you made a first round exit. What happened?
That’s the beauty of sports that makes it really exciting. I was leading by 3 games to nil when my opponent (Eduard Ionescu of Romania) put up a fight. He came back to win the next four games. It’s the biggest sporting event. You can’t really say I lost concentration. The opponent was fighting. I was 3-8 down in the seventh and deciding game. I fought back to 10-9, but he went on to win 13-11. I can just say it was not meant to be.
Generally, players give importance to H2H (head to head record) before a match. How about you? Do you believe in H2H?
For many, H2H is very important. For me, it doesn’t matter. There is still a fresh hope, a new day, a new opponent to fight. I must have lost five times to Japan’s Harimoto Tomakazu and Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei). But last year, I beat Harimoto in Singapore and beat Lin in Slovenia. The message is clear: don’t give up. Always put the past behind and that’s what makes sports beautiful.
You were world’s top 10 as early as in 2022 and you have slipped to 20. What happened?
Nothing is impossible. I can be in the top 10 in 3-4 months. I was injured for a while. It’s difficult to be at the top. I have to keep believing in myself.
How has the season gone-by been for you?
I started in WTT finals in Doha where I reached the quarterfinals. Then in the WTT Star Contender in Goa, I entered the last eight. There were some great moments.
For more nearly three decades, Nigeria’s seven-time Olympian Segun Toriola has been a huge inspiration for the nation. Is he still around with the sport?
It’s been great to have someone of his stature around still. He is my coach and have learnt a lot. Having him as a coach is a blessing.
How has Nigerian table tennis evolved over a period since you progressed as a world class player?
We have several talented players. It’s about financial aspect in Nigeria that is the problem. India, on the other hand, has invested lot of money on the sport. The Federation (Nigerian TT Federation) hardly gets the approved budgets. There is huge corruption in our country. We find it difficult to find even two players on the WTT tour.
What can be done to improve the situation?
Financially, we can definitely improve. We need money to host training camps, give the players food, equipments and funding their travel. If more money is invested, we can do better.
You have travelled to different countries and played for several clubs across the world. How is to explore different clubs?
Yes. It’s a great feeling to meet new people, learn new culture. I’ve been to Portugal, France, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Bundesliga. It has become a part of life of a player to learn and explore.
World Table Tennis fined you $5000 for failing to turn up for World team championships in February this year and WTT Champions in March? What do you have to say?
I really believe WTT has framed bad rules. They make things so expensive for the players. Table tennis was never this expensive when ITTF was involved. There used to be lots of players on the world tour.
Everyone is losing money on WTT tour. Nothing has changed. When you can’t play, you have to pay a lot. Everybody is complaining but nobody is confident to come out and talk about it. I get my salary from my club. Only when I get my salary, can I pay WTT. I had informed WTT well in advance of my inability to take part in Worlds and World Champions. I have approached the ITTF Tribunal to resolve the issue. The case is pending. I am willing to go to CAS if I don’t get justice.