by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF Africa, Press Officer

Performances in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are very much the reasons for the inclusion of Quadri Aruna and Segun Toriola.

Memorably in the Men’s Singles event, Quadri Aruna beat the Slovak Republic’s Wang Yang, Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan and Germany’s Timo Boll, before at the quarter-final stage losing the eventual gold medallist, China’s Ma Long.

A performance to note; for Segun Toriola, simply being present in Rio de Janeiro was a performance of note. Commencing in Barcelona in 1992, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was his seventh consecutive appearance in the most prestigious multi-sport event of all.

Meanwhile, for Olufunke Oshonaike, her crowning moment came later in the year in Agadir, Morocco when, against the odds, she won the Women’s Singles event, and event in which she had previously succeeded

The remaining seven nominees are Nigeria’s Paralympic Team, rower Chierika Ukogu plus footballers Victor Moses, Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, John Mikel Obi and Asisat Oshoala.