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Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri, Egyptian Assar get tough opponents at ITTF World Cups

Nigeria’s sole flagbearer at the ITTF World Cups Macao 2024, Quadri Aruna has been drawn in Group 15 of the men’s singles as the Nigerian will slug it out against Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez. Egypt’s Omar Assar has also been handed a tough task of progressing from the group.

The 48 players have been drawn into 16 groups of three players in each group with the winner in each group advancing to the second stage of the competition.

Aruna who has been regular face at the ITTF World Cups remains the first and only African to have reached the quarterfinal stage of the $1m prize money tournament and he is expected to begin his campaign against Portugal’s Freitas on Monday, April 15 while his last group match will be on Tuesday, April 16 against Puerto Rico’s Gonzalez.

Also, Egypt’s trio of Omar Assar, Ahmed Saleh and Mohamed El-Beiali have been drawn into group 16, 11 and nine respectively.

African Games champion Assar will slug it out against Sweden’s Truls Moregard and Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan.

Egyptian veteran Saleh has been handed a tough group 11 as he will battle former European champion Dan Qui of Germany and Japan’s Shunsuke Togami. El-Beiali who is debuting at the ITTF World will jostle for top spot against Korea’s Jang Woojin and France’s Simon Gauzy in group nine.

Also, three Egyptians and a Cameroonian will represent Africa in the women’s singles as Yousra Helmy, Hana Goda and Mariam Alhodaby will campaign in group nine, 12 and 11 while Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou will compete in 11 alongside Korea’s Joo Cheonhui and Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi.

According to ITTF, top seed Wang Chuqin of China is set to commence this inaugural Men’s World Cup campaign against Kirill Gerassimenko and An Jaehyun in Group 1.

With flawless head-to-head records against both opponents (2:0 against Gerassimenko and 5:0 against An), Wang appears to have a favourable path to progress to the next stage. With two previous titles in Macao at the WTT Champions Macao 2023 and 2022, Wang is setting the stage for an impressive performance next week that is sure to delight fans.

The defending champion, Fan Zhendong, will embark on his title defense against Wong Chun Ting and Benedikt Duda. With an impressive 16-match win streak, Fan aims to continue his momentum by securing his 17th and 18th victories early in the tournament.

Recently claiming the WTT Feeder Varazdin 2024 title and a Mixed Doubles ticket to the Paris Olympic Games, Wong is currently in top form and will pose quite a challenge to the World No. 2.

In the Women’s Singles, top seed Sun Yingsha faces her initial challenges in Group 1 against Chen Szu-Yu and Zhu Chengzhu. Having encountered both opponents multiple times and emerging victorious in each encounter, Sun’s campaign in the World Cup is expected to commence without major obstacles.

Nonetheless, given the new four game format, the outcome on the table remains unpredictable, leaving room for any player to seize victory.

In Group 4, defending champion Chen Meng will confront Sreeja Akula and Natalia Bajor as she strives to reclaim her title. This encounter will represent the first meeting between the 2020 Women’s World Cup winner and either Akula or Bajor. Notably, Akula and Bajor have only faced each other once before in 2019, where Akula emerged victorious with a narrow 4-3 margin.

2016 Women’s World Cup winner, Miu Hirano will kick off her 2024 World Cup run facing off Jia Nan Yuan and Jocelyn Lam in Group 14. A sense of intrigue surrounding this group, this will mark the first encounter for any of these players on the international stage.

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King Ademola Lookman Brings Out His Love

Like his father opened up, Ademola Lookman is essentially a private person, who prefers to do his stuff without all the media blitz.

But on one of his biggest days, when he was crowned Africa’s best player, he could not but make the first public appearance with the woman in his life – Jayda Love.

‘Adebobo’ would even steal a moment on his big night to kiss his American beau.

The 27-year-old Super Eagles star is still single.

Rumours of this romance first surfaced in the summer when the couple appeared to have spent the holidays together.

This was after ‘Mola’ scored his unforgettable hat-trick for Atalanta to win the UEFA Europa League in super style.

Jayda, an Information Technology specialist is based in Dallas, Texas, graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2021 with a degree in public relations.

She follows Ademola Lookman and his foundation on social media.

She is also known to have visited him at his Italian base.

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FIFA Rankings: Nigeria’s Super Eagles End 2024 Ahead Of Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have ended 2024 ranked as Africa’s fifth-best team in FIFA’s latest global standings, released Thursday morning, Soccernet.ng reports.

Despite a challenging end to the year that saw the team drop eight places to 44th globally, the Super Eagles still managed to hold their own against eternal continental rivals like South Africa, Cameroon, and Ghana.

This year’s ranking represents a mixed bag for Nigeria. While the team retained its fifth spot in Africa, their decline in global rankings was driven by underwhelming performances in key fixtures.

Most notably, the Super Eagles struggled during the final rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, securing just a solitary point in lackluster outings against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Nigeria were forced to a scored draw by the Cheetahs in Abidjan only for Samuel Chukwueze’s excellent strike to end up as consolation in a 2-1 home defeat to the Wasps.

Looking at year-to-year standings, at this time in 2023, Nigeria’s Super Eagles were ranked 42nd in the world but sixth on the continent.

Elsewhere, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana showed marked improvement, climbing th

Cameroon and Ghana, however, endured disappointing campaigns. Ghana’s Black Stars finished the year ranked 77th, a stark reminder of the ongoing struggles within the Black Stars setup.

At the continental summit, Morocco retained their status as the continent’s best, finishing as Africa’s top-ranked team in 14th place globally.

Senegal (17th), Egypt (33rd), and Algeria (37th) rounded out the top four, with Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, and South Africa completing the top 10.

Globally, Argentina retained their position as FIFA’s top-ranked team, followed by France, Spain, England, and Brazil.

With 1,181 international matches played across the calendar year, the rankings reflected consistent dominance from the world’s elite teams.

As Nigeria enter 2025, all eyes will be on the Super Eagles to reignite their competitive spark, with the World Cup qualifiers returning in the first quarter of the year.

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Mbappé: Would Have Been ‘Fun’ To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé has said he wishes he could have played with Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, the club’s all-time leading scorer.

The France international has been a teammate of other football icons but would have relished playing alongside Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Portugal captain.

“I’ve played with great players: Lionel Messi, Neymar, [Antoine] Griezmann, [Paul] Pogba, [Karim] Benzema…” Mbappé told BeINsports.

“It would have been fun to play with Cristiano Ronaldo — it’s going to be very difficult now — but I was lucky enough to play against him, a legend of the sport.”

Ronaldo, 39, left the Spanish giants in 2018 now plays for Saudi Pro-League side Al Nassr.

Mbappé helped Madrid win the Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, his second title since joining the Spanish giants in the summer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired.

Speaking to young people with disabilities as part of the BeUNITED program, Mbappe, 25, said he would have never left Paris Saint-Germain had it not been to join Madrid.

“I went to the biggest club in the world,” the 2018 World Cup winner said.

“I have always said that it was the only club I would have left PSG for. If I hadn’t been able to go to Madrid, I would have stayed at PSG all my life.”

Although Mbappé has been prolific for Madrid so far, he has faced criticism for his all-round performances with the team having suffered some high-profile defeats earlier in the season.

“Since I was 14, everyone told me I was going to be great,” Mbappé said.

“But when you’re big, sometimes you feel small…At first I was too hungry and it played tricks on me because I was impatient. But I have passion and this competitive side.

“My dream now is to win trophies with my team, not individual awards. What great title is left for me? The Champions League, but I’m in the best club in the world for that.”