In 1951, Joe DiMaggio won his ninth World Series with the Yankees. He then retired at age 37. After winning back-to-back Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos, John Elway retired in 1999 at 38. Having already announced he would retire at the end of the season, 37-year-old San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson won his second NBA championship in 2003. There are many others in the annals of sports who retired as champions. Nigeria's Quadri Aruna (pictured, right) now joins this elite group. On Sunday, Aruna's club, Sporting, won the Portuguese National League championship on his last day of action, sweeping his former team GD Toledos. The comparison with other retiring champs breaks down, however, when we acknowledge that Aruna is not actually retiring from table tennis, but rather from a highly successful decade-long run in the Portuguese leagues. Neither is Aruna at the twilight of his career, but in its brilliant midday sun. At 31, he is the same age as reigning Olympic and World Champion Ma Long. Aruna is an entirely viable candidate for both titles. Ranked 19th in the world, the highly sought-after Aruna is now taking his talents to the even more competitive German leagues. While such a graduation is certainly a good career move, it is also bittersweet. "After ten years in Portugal, it was time to leave for a championship with another level," reflects Aruna. "I was very happy here, Portugal for me is almost the same as Nigeria and I will continue to live in Portugal because I have a family here. I will train a few times at Sporting in the year." One imagines Quadri Aruna in his Lisbon apartment, a little hung over from the team's celebration the night before, packing for his imminent move to Germany. Pausing to linger over each Sporting club shirt as he carefully folds and stacks them in his bag, he hears a sweet susurrus outside. Faint at first, it grows in strength as he approaches the window to investigate. He is shocked to see the street lined with fans sporting the signature black and green of Sporting. As more and more of the candle-bearing faithful gather, their chinchilla-soft Portuguese consonants harmonize a haunting, familiar melody: "Onde você foi, Quadri Aruna? Nossa nação vira seus olhos solitários para você..." Or, loosely translated from Portuguese: "Where have you gone, Quadri Aruna? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you..."

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