Tokyo Olympics: The African table tennis star hoping to end Chinese dominance

Nigerian table tennis player Quadri Aruna is looking to win a medal at the Olympics in a field dominated by Chinese players. He is his continent's biggest hope, a job for which he seems well prepared.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Quadri Aruna finally met his match in Chinese master, Ma Long, in the quarterfinals of the men's singles table tennis tournament.

With his speedy forehand power, the Nigerian virtuoso had conquered three top players to reach the quarterfinals of the men's singles table tennis event, the first time for an African at the Olympic Games. 

He defeated Taiwanese fifth seed Chuang Chih-yuan 4-0 and German star Timo Boll 4-2 in one of the biggest upset runs in table tennis history. But Long was too much to handle, and Aruna lost in four straight sets to the eventual gold medal winner. 

It has been five years since, and Aruna has plotted his return to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. After his debut season in Germany's Table Tennis Bundesliga in which he won 15 of his 25 matches, he is the highest-ranked African (22) in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

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