Quadri Aruna will be making his fourth appearance at the Olympic Games after the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) formally confirmed the Nigerian for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France.
Since making his debut at London 2012, Aruna has featured at the Olympic Games while in his second appearance, he reached the quarterfinal to become the first African to achieve such a feat and Omar Assar of Egypt also hit the quarterfinal at Tokyo 2020 to equal Aruna’s record as the second African to hit such height at the Olympic Games.
As the countdown to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games intensifies, ITTF is thrilled to announce significant progress in the qualification process for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
With less than 50 days to the games, this week’s world ranking update has seen eight athletes secure their participation based on the selection of Continental quotas allocated by World Ranking.
In a statement issued by ITTF, representation from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe adds further depth and intrigue to the upcoming competition.
The Men’s Singles draw welcomes African powerhouse, Quadri Aruna from Nigeria, alongside the Americas’ rising talent Nicolas Burgos from Chile. Asia’s Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan and Europe’s Alvaro Robles of Spain, who previously qualified in Mixed Doubles, also confirm their spots.
The Women’s Singles competition showcases a similar level of global talent. Lynda Loghraibi from Algeria (Africa), Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico (Americas), Singapore’s Zhou Jingyi (Asia), and Yang Xiaoxin of Monaco (Europe) can now officially begin their preparations for their Olympic dreams in Paris.
With only one more world ranking update scheduled before the final roster for Paris is confirmed, the qualification process reaches its penultimate stage. Next week’s world rankings will be crucial in determining the final competitors for the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Games. 86 men and 86 women are expected to compete in the singles events of the Olympic Games
Also, ITTF has named three Africans – Akram Ben Attia (Tunisia), Es-Sayed Elrawdy (Egypt), and Ronald Mugwanya (Uganda) as umpires for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.