Haruna Quadri dropped one spot from 17th to 18th in the latest International Table Tennis Federation world rankings for the month of June, The PUNCH reports.
Despite the drop, the 34-year-old is still the top-ranked player in Africa, having accumulated 1,150 points during the month under review.
Egypt’s Omar Assar is second in Africa after he moved up one spot from 23rd to 22nd globally.
China’s Chuqin Wang dethroned countryman Zhendong Fan to become the top-ranked ping-pong player in the world.
Zhendong had topped the rankings for 142 consecutive weeks before he was displaced. Long Ma maintained the third position in the Chinese top three.
Fast-rising Nigerian teenage prodigy, Taiwo Mati, made a significant leap in the ranking as he chalked up 13 places to finish the month in 63rd position after recording 272 points in June.
Mati’s meteoric rise in the rankings has been due to his performances in various tournaments this year.
He reached the quarter-finals of the ITTF-Africa Cup in Nairobi, Kenya; the round of 32 at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Durban, South Africa and also featured at the WTT Contender in Lagos, where he crashed out in the preliminary rounds of the event.
The 18-year-old also competed in the WTT Feeder in Dusseldorf, Germany; the WTT Contender in Zagreb, Croatia and the Singapore Smash, making progress in each competition.
Another Nigerian who made a significant leap in the ranking is Olajide Omotayo, who rose 18 places to 139th.
Other Nigerian players Amadi Omeh and Rilwan Akanbi climbed to the fifth and sixth spots in Nigeria respectively, with Omeh climbing 28 places to 164th and Akanbi moving up 32 places to 259th.
In the women’s category, Nigeria’s women’s top-ranked player, Fatimo Bello, disappointingly dropped 56 places to 108th in the world, while Tosin Oribamise rose 24 places to 147th. Ajoke Ojomu also moved 25 places to 191st.
Offiong Edem lost 137 places to place 283rd in the rankings, while seven-time Olympian Funke Oshonaike slumped in the rankings 222 places to place 374th.
Meanwhile, Chinese players Sun Yingsha, Wang Yidi and Chen Meng maintained their dominance, occupying the top three spots, respectively.
