Aruna Quadri who will travel to China next month to play in the ITTF World Cup Tournament has pledged to be Nigeria’s good ambassador.
The African tap table tennis star has been leading TTC RhönSprudel Maberzell Fulda in the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL) since his switch early this year.
Quadri is scheduled to play in the World Cup tournament scheduled to hold between November 13 and 15in Weihai and the ITTF finals also listed for November 19 and 22in Zheng.
“My goals are always the same: I want to improve my performance and be a good ambassador for my country, my sponsors and my club,” observed the Oyo-State born table tennis player.
On the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which have been postponed by a year, Quadri who will be playing at his third Olympiad in Japan stressed that IOC did the right thing by pushing the games forward as health of athletes and officials remain paramount.
“In the current situation, hardly anything can be planned. Of course, the Olympic Games are something special,but the health and safety of athletes and officials come first,” reasoned the 2014 ITTF Star player.
At 32 years, Quadri does not feel any pressure yet and retiring from the game appears secondary for now.
“I hope to continue playing for a few more years. I will continue to play table tennis as long as my body allows it and my performance is good,” he revealed.
He however admitted that settling into the German League has not been a piece of cake.
“It is still very difficult for me to adapt to the level of play in Germany. But I firmly believe that I will be able to do that very soon.
“The Bundesliga is really strong and challenging. I think the chance of winning is always around 50:50.
“One shortcoming was certainly having to play some games without spectators, like in Bad Königshofen and Düsseldorf. That is not satisfactory for me; the morale was not the same as in having fans at games to cheer you on. Spectators are very important to me, which is an additional incentives that ginger me to greater heights.”
Quadri who holds dual citizenship having his home in Lisbon, Portugal, admitted it is not really easy to be away from his family.
“I am a family person and always enjoy being with my wife and children. When I’m out and about, I keep in touch with them everyday via the Internet. Even when I’m in Lisbon, the focus is on training. Table tennis is my job and my life. It is very important to me that I can take good care of my family through my work,” concludes the African Star.
