Aruna Quadri has said he is not bothered about the effect of his early exit at the 2016 ITTF World Cup in Germany on his ranking in the world.
The World Cup held in Dusseldorf between October 1 and 3.
The 2014 ITTF Star Player of The Year, who made history as the first African to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics at Rio 2016, exited the competition in the first round after losing his first two matches to Sweden’s Par Gerell and Singapore’s Gao Ning.
“I think my performance at the World Cup was not too bad because I really gave a good fight but I was not lucky enough to go out of group. I had chances which I failed to utilise and this really cost me the two losses I suffered,” he told the ITTF website on Wednesday.
“Before the tournament, I really worked harder but sometimes you don’t get the results of hard work immediately. I believe that better days are ahead. I have given my whole ability in Germany and I hope to bounce back positively in subsequent tournaments.
“It is true that the results in Germany will affect my world ranking but I am not bothered about the ranking as there are more events in future which I could amass points to shore up my world rating again as I will keep working hard.
“I can say that I keep learning tournament after tournament, all players are working harder just like I am also working hard. The lessons that I learned in Germany remain personal to me and I will surely work on these mistakes and bounce back positively in future tournaments.”
France-based Quadri is currently ranked 25th in the world.