Aruna, Other Nigerian Stars Set for ITTF World Championships in Doha

Duro Ikhazuagbe in Doha

Nigeria and Africa’s top ranked player, Quadri Aruna is leading other African players to the 2025 ITTF World Championships scheduled to begin here in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.

Aruna will be in company with other Nigerian table tennis players like Hope Udoaka; Olajide Omotayo and Kabirat Ayoola; and Matthew Kuti & Ajoke Ojomu as he seeks global table tennis glory in the Middle East.

This year’s edition scheduled to hold from May 17 to 25 inside the state-of-the-art Lusail Multipurpose Hall and Qatar University Sports Complex, will mark a symbolic return to Doha, 21 years after the Qatari capital became the first Middle Eastern city to host the World Championships in 2004.

Players will compete across five major events: Men and Women’s Singles, Men and Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles.

Aruna, the first African to reach the quarterfinals of the World Championships, will open his campaign in the Men’s Singles against Brazil’s Victor Ishiy—a familiar opponent he defeated 4-2 at the 2021 edition in Houston, USA.

The Nigerian star will be aiming to repeat that performance here in Doha.

Other African representatives in the Men’s Singles include Darara Dufera (Ethiopia) vs Oh Junsung (South Korea); Aly Ghallab (Egypt) vs Eduard Ionescu (Romania); Fabio Rakotoarimanana (Madagascar) vs Darko Jorgic (Slovenia); Kokou Fanny (Togo) vs Alexis Lebrun (France); Wassim Essed (Tunisia) vs Juan Perez (Spain) and Mohamed El-Beiali (Egypt) vs Anton Kallberg (Sweden).

In the Women’s Singles, African champion Hana Goda of Egypt will face Australia’s Jiamuwa Wu in the first round.

Other key matchups include; Yousra Helmy (Egypt) vs Jocelyn Lam (New Zealand); Hope Udoaka (Nigeria) vs Giulia Takahashi (Brazil); Rochica Sonday (South Africa) vs Chen Xingtong (China); Mariam Alhodaby (Egypt) vs Sabine Winter (Germany) and Danisha Patel (South Africa) vs Andrea Todorovic (Croatia).

The Mixed Doubles event will also feature strong African representation with Olajide Omotayo & Kabirat Ayoola (Nigeria) vs Mahmoud Helmy & Hend Fathy (Egypt); Fabio Rakotoarimanana & Hanitra Raharimanana (Madagascar) vs Hugo Calderano & Bruna Takahashi (Brazil); Matthew Kuti & Ajoke Ojomu (Nigeria) vs Sora Matsushima & Miwa Harimoto (Japan) and Milhane Jellouli & Amina Kessaci (Algeria) vs Ahmed Korani & Maryam Ali (Qatar).

With top talents from across Africa—including Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Madagascar, and Togo—set to compete, the 2025 ITTF World Championships promises to be a thrilling showcase of skill, resilience, and continental pride.