In the 2024-week 11 rankings released by the International Table Tennis Federation on Tuesday, compatriot Offiong Edem leads the rise of African players.
Quadri Aruna, who is ranked 11th in the world, continues to be the best-ranked African player in the world, ahead of Omar Assar of Egypt, the winner of the African Games, who is ranked 22nd.
The table tennis competition at the ongoing 13th African Games in Ghana has concluded, and the most recent rankings are as of right now.
Edem, the top-ranked female Nigerian player in the world, climbed 45 spots to be ranked 97th after winning bronze in the women’s singles competition in Ghana.
But the biggest mover in the world is Lucie Mobarek of Algeria, who was unranked prior to the African Games but went on to rank 103 globally as the highest-ranked Algerian female player.
Meanwhile, Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw, who took home the bronze in the men’s singles competition, moved up 26 spots to rank 67 globally.The top two African female players are still Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Hana Goda, who are ranked 26 and 30, respectively.
Khaled Assar, an Egyptian who placed fourth in the men’s singles tournament, climbed 146 spots to rank 145 globally.
The trio from Tunisia—Wassim Essid, Youssef Ben Attia, and Khalil Sta—who won bronze in the men’s team competition and moved up the world rankings—are the main winners.
A teenage phenomenon Ben Attia and Sta gained 221 steps to rank 237 and 238 respectively, while Essid gained 83 steps to rank 206.