The Nigeria Sports Awards (NSA) has sent congratulatory messages to Nigeria’s International Table Tennis player, Aruna Quadri for winning the ITTF African Cup and qualifying for the ITTF World Cup billed for France later in the year.
The two-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Sports Award defeated his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar 4- 3 in the Men’s Singles final on Monday to book a place in the World Cup having thrashed Egypt’s Mohammed El-Beiali 4-0 in the semi-finals.
The Chairman of the award panel, Dr. Kweku Tandoh, saluted the brilliant performance of the Nigerian International for remaining consistent and flying the flag of the country high in the last four to five years.
Tandoh noted that the Nigerian Sports Award is proud to be associated with Aruna Quadri stating that his performance is a testimony to the vision of the awards in honouring and recognising excellent performance.
“Nigerian Sports Award acknowledges the ‘Can- Do’ Spirit of Aruna Quadri for making the country proud by qualifying for the ITTF World Cup despite his challenges. We salute his courage, resilience and passion for excellence which represents the ideals of the Nigerian Sports Award†Dr. Tandoh said.
He then charged the ITTF star to go all out and make the country proud by winning ITTF World Cup later in the year, while also calling on the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation, corporate organisations and sports loving individuals to support him in his quest to become the ITTF World Cup winner.
Meanwhile, the award panel Chairman Tandoh, has pledged to take the award to the next level as one of the most revered awards for sports, not only in Nigeria but also in Africa and the rest of the world.
He revealed that part of the immediate task for the panel is to improve the visibility of the brand as well as engagement with stakeholders in the Nigeria sporting industry while also attracting more corporate sponsorships and partnerships for the award.
Tandoh also disclosed that the new panel would strive to increase the numbers of awards gradually to cover the full spectrum of the sporting activities and also partner with the awardees to embark on charitable causes that will bring about sports development in Nigeria.
While commending the organisers of the award and the past award panel for successfully piloting the affairs of the award for the past 5 years, he promised to improve on the content and the quality of the award night, in line with international best practice.
