According to the end – of year ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Thursday, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has set a new personal record for Nigeria and himself as he is now ranked 21st globally.

A statement released by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTFF) on Friday said Quadri has now surpassed his best of 25th in the rankings to topple Egypt’s Omar Assar as the best – ranked player in Africa.

“This has helped him to displace Egypt’s Omar Assar as the continent’s best – ranked player in the world. Inspite of not matching the record set by Assar as the first African ranked among the top 20 in the world, Quadri ends the year as the highest – ranked African in the latest rating,” the NTFF said.

Following his triumphs over top – ranked players at the recently concluded Swedish Open, Quadri amassed a total of 50 points to improve from 2,457 to 2,507 points to shoot him up from 25th to 21st in the world.

Assar’s inactivity in recent months seem to have affected his ranking as the Egyptian dropped from 20th to 26th in the ranking.

Ishaku Tikon, the President of the NTTF has also commended Quadri for the feat which he said has put Nigeria and Africa on the world map with his scintillating and breathtaking performance  at the global stage.

He urge younger table tennis players on the continent to emulate Quadri in terms of his diligence, professionalism and dedication to the trade which he said would catapult them to the apex of their careers.

In the female category, Egypt’s Dina Meshref dropped from 92nd to 110th but she still remains Africa’s top – ranked female player while Nigeria’s Funke Oshonaike’s lack of playing time at the global level continue to have a negative effect as she dropped from 227th to 262nd in the latest ITTF rankings.