Quadri Aruna’s eyes remove darkness from on the point out of Sharath Kamal. They’ve had numerous battles around the desk over the route in their intensive careers, but there is a fairly fictitious determine that the Nigerian brings up whilst speaking in regards to the 41-year-old Indian. “If I see someone like Kamal, I feel like I am 18,” the 34-year-old chuckles.
Like the seven-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist in India, Aruna has been a pioneer for desk tennis in Africa. One who has given them the texture of a primary ever Olympic quarter-final look via an African paddler on the 2016 Rio Games. One who has given them the top of seeing their own a number of the international’s peak 10 ranked paddlers. And person who is now giving again to the game “that gave life to me”.
Two years in the past, the Oyo-born Aruna began a desk tennis academy in Lagos. It lately has greater than 20 children throughout junior and cadet age teams who’ve get right of entry to to tables, apparatus and coaching amenities that, from time to time, come with sparring with Aruna.
Initially, all of the academy’s investment used to be pumped in via Aruna and his spouse — a former participant in Nigeria — sooner than they discovered sponsorship alongside the best way within the football-crazy nation. That, by the way, used to be what planted the speculation of development an academy within the thoughts of Aruna, the arena No.18 who nonetheless travels to maximum tournaments with out a trainer or monetary toughen.
“I realized that in Africa, the government will not do everything. Most of the countries in Africa have a lot of corruption. And they don’t put too much focus in sports. So, it was important that we, as individuals who have played this sport, spend something small to bring life back to table tennis from where I came,” says Aruna in Pune, where he is competing for U Mumba in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT).
“Even now, I have no sponsor, no salary, nothing. So, if I, who have been doing not bad, am not getting any kind of support, what is the future of the ones coming up? When we see talent, we have to help them, support them. That was the idea.
The idea was also to give direction to that talent, rerouting them from the path of poverty and crime.
“We have a lot of kids on the streets. They have nothing to do. They are into crimes. That is also one of my reasons for starting the academy, so that we can bring some of the kids out of that world, out of the streets and give them this life. To show them that it is possible, no matter where you come from, to become something in life. There’s talent everywhere in Africa, we just need to find the facilities to discover them,” says Aruna.
early toughen
Growing up enjoying a game that used to be “very talked-about” in Africa, Aruna stated the presence and assist of a few passionate former paddlers made him the participant and individual he’s now. As the top-ranked African main a bunch of six males on the earth’s peak 100, Aruna hopes to be the similar engineer of trade and supply of inspiration for the following bunch of African faces in desk tennis. That begins with the youngsters at his personal academy.
“In the beginning, I used to practice with them a lot, and I still do whenever I’m in Nigeria,” he says. “If you see so many people who want to follow what you’re doing, it means you’re doing something good. It makes me happy, and I want to do better and better, so that it inspires them too.”
Inspiring Aruna, the 2018 CWG men’s singles silver medalist still going strong at 34, are a few 40-somethings playing on, including Sharath. Aruna beat Sharath in the semi-final of that Gold Coast CWG. Sharath returned the favor at the 2022 Birmingham CWG in the men’s team event that India won. They continue to keep going at each other — Quadri earned U Mumba a crucial win over Chennai Lions by beating Sharath 3-0 in UTT last week — while the Nigerian continues to feel motivated (and young) around the Indian.
“At the CWG, I asked him, ‘How do you feel? You are 40 now’. He said he is doing a lot of physical training, trying to be mentally stable, never thinking he is old,” says Aruna. “If Kamal is able to win three gold medals at CWG at 40, who am I? I am still 18. If Kamal is still fighting, I will keep fighting.”
Aruna is eager to take that fight into next year’s Paris Olympics, which, if he does make it, will be his fourth Games. “I will keep working harder and harder and see if I can do better than Rio (quarter-final),” he says. “But it is also important to be able to be a good ambassador for your country.”