Quadri Aruna
Nigeria’s
Quadri Aruna on Wednesday night won two awards at the International
Table
Tennis Federation’s 2014 Star Awards in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates.
The world 30th ranked player, edged out
three other nominees, China’s duo of Fan Zhendong
and Xi Xin and
Portugal’s Marcos Freitas to win the Male Table Tennis Star of the Year.
Aruna’s crucial winning point in the 4-2
loss to World and Olympic champion, Jan Zhike,
at the quarter-final
stage of the 2014 ITTF World Cup in Dusseldorf, was also adjudged the
Star
Point of the Year at the awards, which was in its second year.
According to the ITTF, the African
champion was nominated for the Male Table Tennis Star
because of his
astronomical rise in the ITTF rankings during the year to become the
highest-ever ranked African player in history.
China’s Xin is the current number one
player in the world while his compatriot, Zhendong, is the 2014 Youth
Olympic Games gold medallist and Freitas, is the 2014 European Team
Championships winner and the first Portuguese player to be ranked top 10
in the world.
The elated Aruna, while expressing his gratitude to the award organisers, believed he won the awards by luck.
He said, “Today is the best day of my
career and my life. I am dedicating this unbelievable award to my fans
all over the world who took their time to vote for me.”
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