Aruna Reclaims Africa’s Top Spot in World Rankings

Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.

Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.

Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.

Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.

Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.

This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.

Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.

In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.