by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Time to look forward; in particular it is time to look forward to the Liebherr 2017 ITTF Men’s World Cup to be staged in Liège, Belgium from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October and to next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Very much with Liège in mind; Quadri Aruna spoke to Olalekan Okusan, the ITTF Africa Press Officer

“I think it is very possible to break the jinx anytime in the future and only God knows. I am not going to give up, I will just keep training. The number of foreign players has always been a threat but we should not be thinking about the threats. We should be thinking about improving table tennis in Nigeria, exposing our young players to international play.

We should also realize that the objective is not just for any Nigerian to win the tournament but to build players and develop more talents as well. Just as we have seen, Quadri Aruna is not always the best in Nigeria. The fact I lost to Bode Abiodun is one of the beauties of the tournament and this must continue. It means strong competition for the 2018 Commonwealth Games Team. India will have a strong team.

Also, the Nigeria Open is part of my preparations for the World Cup in October in Belgium and I am going to be giving my best; Nigeria was not my tournament but I am not losing hope, I will continue to work harder and harder. I’m going to give my best and represent Nigeria and be good ambassador of the country.”