Table Tennis Star, HARUNA QUADRI Plays In Properties

The story of Nigeria’s biggest table tennis export did not begin at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Surulere or the well-known Rowe Park in Yaba, Lagos where he ruled relentlessly before luck smiled on him.It began on a cement table in Oyo Town, with a split bat and a dream larger than the town itself.

Today, that young boy is Haruna Quadri, previous World No. 10, previous Africa No 1 and Nigeria’s wealthiest ever table tennis gamer with a projected net worth of about $5 million. Born upon August 9, 1988 in Oyo, Oyo State, Quadri was not born abundant. He discovered to play in the streets, where tables were made from concrete and webs were pieces of wood.

Coaches remember him for something, his forehand. A relentless, looping forehand that seemed like a whip. They nicknamed him Rocky and Quadri Balboa after Rocky Balboa in the hit 1976 American Sports Drama motion picture by Sylvester Stallone, due to the fact that ‘he never ever decreased’.

Quadri controlled regional competitions however had no sponsor. In Nigeria, table tennis was and still is a pauper’s sport compared to football. To be the very best, Aruna needed to leave.

In 2010, with aid from Barrister Wahid Enitan Oshodi, President of Africa Table Tennis Federation, who spent for his very first global tickets, he left Nigeria for Lisbon, Portugal to sign up with the Portuguese Super League. He showed up alone. No coach. No manager.For years, he grinded in Portugal playing club matches every weekend, oversleeping studio apartments and sending out cash home. Came 2014. At the ITTF World Cup, he ended up being the very first African ever to reach the quarter-finals. The ITTF called him Star Player of the Year. The world lastly observed.

The peak came at Rio Olympics in 2016. Ranked outside the leading 20, he surprised the world. He beat Slovakia’s Wang Yang, then World No. 7, Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei, then European legend, Timo Boll, a guy who had actually won 4 World Tour titles. Quadri marched into the quarter-finals, losing just to ultimate gold medalist, Ma Long of China. He was the only African in the last 8 in any racket sport at that year’s Olympics. That run altered his savings account permanently.

Table tennis does not pay like football, however at the top, it pays well if you are wise. European clubs pay premium for an African super star. In Portugal for 10 years, then in Russia’s Gazprom Fakel Orenburg, among the wealthiest clubs on the planet, his wage struck 6 figures consisting of perks. In 2023, he signed a rewarding short-term handle Saudi Arabia. Quadri has actually played over 300 worldwide occasions and still counting.

Quadri understands that without investing his wealth, the future looks unsure. He has actually been around for such a long period of time and had actually seen ex gamers suffer long after dropping their bats. And he is not simply Nigeria’s wealthiest table tennis gamer, he is likewise silently developing among the most strong residential or commercial property portfolios amongst Nigerian sportspersons outside football. This is since he is merely believing like a Landlord.

Close partners state Aruna’s home method began about 15 years back when he transferred to Portugal to play expert table tennis after dominating the nationwide and local competitors and won all there is to win.”I got here in Portugal to play expertly,” he as soon as showed. That relocation exposed him to how European clubs play and how European Athletes maintain wealth, not in cars and trucks however in homes and strong Property for the rainy days.

Sources informed City individuals that in his home town, Oyo and somewhere else in Ibadan, Aruna has actually invested greatly in land and a personal household estate. Unlike lots of professional athletes who lease in Europe, he owns his own home and has actually developed cottages and mini-flats for rental earnings in his native Oyo town.

Aruna, like numerous diaspora returnees, has actually keyed into the Lagos residential or commercial property business.Insiders state he owns many serviced mini-estate systems in the Mowe-Ofada axis and in Ajah/Ibeju-Lekki passage, where separated homes now cost in between N150m to over N400m. He rents them to young experts and business occupants, turning cash prize into annual signals.

After over a years in Portugal’s Super League, Aruna has actually obtained residential or commercial property in Lisbon, a wise relocation for residency and for rental earnings in Euros. While betting clubs like Gazprom Fakel Orenburg in Russia and Saudi Arabian clubs, he kept his European base as a financial investment home and not simply a home.

Aruna himself exposed why professional athletes like him need to believe beyond the table. In an honest interview in 2025, he grumbled about the ruthless economics of expert table tennis.”With no assistance, I played 99% of competitions alone, without a coach. I needed to money the majority of my journeys myself,” he stated, keeping in mind how $8,000 cash prize diminishes to $3,000 after 20% tax, EUR1,600 flights and hotels.

For Aruna, home is security. Unlike footballers with weekly salaries, table tennis gamers have no pension. One injury can end it. Realty, as a yield-generating financial investment lorry provides fractional earnings, rental yield and gratitude, specifically in a market so unforeseeable such as in Nigeria. Aruna fits completely as a professional athlete who considers life after the table.

His better half, Ganiyat Olatunde Aruna, likewise a table tennis gamer and coach, handles the home front and the homes when he is on trip in Europe or Asia. Together they are constructing a household financial investment. At 37, Haruna has actually dropped to Africa’s No. 4 while his seasonal competitor, Omar Assar of Egypt stays in No 1. He is World No. 98 since September 2026. Aruna is preparing retirement on his own terms. This is how Nigeria’s wealthiest table tennis star is winning off the table.

Wole Alakija

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