Quadri Aruna and wife building table tennis dynasty

Despite the illustrious career of the Africa champion, Quadri Akinade Aruna, spanning over two decades in the game of table tennis, he is not resting on his oars as he is currently building a lasting legacy in the sport through his children. The Oyo-State born, supported by his wife, Ganiyat, is recreating himself in his children  -Miriam, Aruna Junior and Amirah – who are following in his footsteps, showing early signs of excellence in the ping-pong sport.

Aruna’s rise to stardom

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The poster-boy of Nigeria’s table tennis is no doubt one of the most accomplished players on the continent and a force to reckon with in the world. His journey to stardom survived hurdles, beginning from the home front where his mother, Shakirat Aruna, a teacher, expressed her concerns over her son’s passion and preference for table tennis over academics. 

But he began to convince his parents about his qualities and enduring passion for table tennis from the year 2000 when he won a national cadet tournament which served a positive trajectory, setting him on a path of excellence.

Since 2000, Aruna has represented and won several medals for Nigeria both on the continent and global scene. He represented Nigeria at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics tournaments. In 2016, he reached the quarter-finals, making him the first African player to be ranked in the top 10 in the world.

The 2015 African Games gold medallist had reached the quarter-finals in the World Cup 2014 Men’s Singles competition while at the 2017 ITTF World Challenge Bulgaria Open, he lost to the eventual winner Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the semi-finals. In 2018, he was declared Africa’s most successful Olympics table tennis player of all time by the Olympics in an article and in 2019, Aruna won the Nigeria Open men’s singles title.

In 2021, Aruna reached the quarter-finals of the WTT Contender event at WTT Doha. He lost 3-1 in the quarter-finals to Lin Yun-Ju after saving four match points and nearly mounting a comeback. He followed up with another quarter-final appearance at the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston but lost 2-4 to Sweden’s Truls Möregårdh.

A memorable night for the Arunas in Portugal

The gradual rise to stardom of his three children Mariam, Aruna Junior, and Amira is now an open secret. The family recently grabbed the spotlight when both father and children produced incredible performances on the same night. While Aruna senior made it to the semi-finals at the World Table Tennis Contender in Doha, his three kids made podium appearances at the VIX Joao Monteiro Table Tennis Tournament in Portugal.

The competition saw Aruna’s children guided by their mum, Ganiyat, excelling in all the categories. The eldest, Mariam bagged silver in the U15 Girls’ event, Aruna Junior also secured silver in the Boys’ U11 category while the youngest, Amirah proudly won bronze in the U11 Girls’ event.

By the performances of the little stars, there is hope that the legacies of Aruna in table tennis are cemented and would live on even when he decides to hang his bats.

We want our children to excel – Aruna’s wife, Ganiyat

In an interview with Weekend Trust Sports, Aruna’s wife, Ganiyat, who is also a table tennis player, spoke on behalf of the family, revealing the intention behind their children’s involvement in sports, saying it was a decision agreed upon to sustain the family’s legacy in table tennis.

“It is a decision between me and my husband to allow our children to do sports to keep that legacy,” she said.

Narrating their children’s journey into sports, Ganiyat stressed that she deliberately took the eldest – Mariam, to witness her training, describing it as an intentional move to make her fall in love with sports.

“After I gave birth to my first child, Mariam, we were in a city in Portugal. It was an Island but at that time it was not as if we had the intention of them playing table tennis. Then we moved to Lisbon.

“So, in the morning, we would go for training around 10am, then come back around 12pm – 1pm. There is a daycare we normally take our children to after school. At some point, I just told my husband that I am no longer putting them in this daycare and that I want them to play table tennis as well.

“So, whenever I was going for training, I always carry them along. I started going with Mariam, and that was how she started. Some years after, I started training Junior as well,” she said.

She, however, said that Junior, initially, was engaged in both football and table tennis but had to sacrifice football for table tennis in an effort to concentrate and build a career out of it.

“What we were doing then was table tennis and football because we wanted them to play different sports.

“Along the line, we started attending national tournaments in Portugal but we got more attention on table tennis than football because there was not enough time for them to train.

“For Junior, he loves both sports but whenever he does not win a tournament in table tennis, he would blame the loss on lack of time to train. So, I encouraged him to limit the time for football training.

“So, he trains twice for table tennis and once in football, but later we changed the training schedule to tennis alone. Then after a year, we started to get the result we wanted. Then Mariam started winning, the same as Junior,” she said.

Ganiyat added that the third child, Amirah, does both gymnastics and table tennis but usually follows them for table tennis competitions when she is not engaged with any gymnastics competition.

“Right now, she is doing both gymnastics and table tennis but she concentrates more on gymnastics. However, she has not started attending gymnastics competitions, anytime we are going for table tennis competitions, she will always go with us,” she said.

Beyond grooming their children, she said they also organise grassroots competitions to support budding talents in Nigeria.

“We are also trying to leave a legacy when my husband stops playing table tennis, let them not say that since he has been playing what has done for the sport.

“So, we are trying to encourage the younger ones, and to keep them off the street,” she said.

Ganiyat also heaped praises on the president of the African Table Tennis Federation, Mr Wahid Oshodi, acknowledging his effort and support to her family.

I feel fulfilled for discovering Aruna – Abolarin

Aruna, in several interviews, has credited his humble beginning to a man he refers to as his mentor, Oluwole Abolarin.

In an interview with Weekend Trust Sports, Abolarin, who is a teacher at Olivet Baptist Grammar School in Oyo State, relished early days of Aruna, saying Aruna’s brother Femi was the first to show passion for the game.

“Then, it was Femi that was playing table tennis. Their mother wanted Quadri to face his academics but I encouraged her to allow him to do what he was passionate about,” he said.

He described Aruna as a seed which has established its roots and grown to become a tree with branches.

“Then he told me he wanted to marry a female table tennis player so that she can support him. I can see that it is paying off because the woman trains him and the children. I am happy,” he added.