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Nigerian table tennis prodigy, Junior Aruna, has made waves on the international scene, following in the footsteps of his legendary father, Quadri Aruna.
At only 10 years old, trained by his mother Ganiat, this young man won two medals at the 2026 WTT Youth Contender which just ended in Luxembourg.
Aruna’s fearless play and toughness earned him the U-13 men’s singles bronze medal on April 9 2026.
His journey wasn’t easy—after a 3-0 opening loss to Italy’s Mattia Somaini, he bounced back with a thrilling 3-2 win over Lorenzo Armani and a 3-0 win against Aaron Xia to advance through the group stage.
He then swept Poland’s Antoni Zajac 3-0 in the round of 16 and beat Bulgaria’s Dan Zhelyazkov 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
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His journey ended in the semifinals against rising French star Sacha Douaran, but the bronze medal was a powerful statement: Junior Aruna was starting to carve his own path.
In the U-11 category on April 11, Aruna went further. After qualifying from the group stage, he put in his best performance of the tournament in the semifinals, beating Luxembourg’s Noah Wolter 3-2 to reach the final.
Facing Bulgaria’s Zhelyazkov once again, Aruna fought valiantly, narrowly losing 15-13 in the opening game before losing 11-8, 11-8 in the next two games to settle for the silver medal.
With two medals, an U-13 bronze and an U-11 silver, Junior Aruna’s breakthrough in Luxembourg is the start of an incredible journey for Nigeria’s next table tennis star.
