African Games: Nigeria lands four table tennis medals
A total of four medals have been won by Nigeria Table Tennis teams at the ongoing 13th African Games in Ghana.
Nigeria secured two silver medals in both the men’s and women’s Team Events, along with a silver medal in the men’s singles and a bronze medal in the women’s singles.
Omar Assar, Youssef Abdelaziz, and Mohamed El-Beiali of Egypt defeated Nigeria’s trio of Olajide Omotayo, Quadri Aruna, and Taiwo Mati to maintain their unbeaten run in the Men’s Team event.
Assar secured victory over Omotayo with a 3-0 win in the first game, while Abdelaziz managed to halt Aruna’s dominance with a 3-1 win. El-Beiali then sealed the victory with a 3-1 win against Mati, resulting in a 3-0 victory for the Egyptians.
The Egyptian female team continued their unbeaten streak in the table tennis team event after defeating Nigeria 3-0 in the final.
The trio of Dina Meshref, Hana Goda, and Mariam Alhodaby dominated Nigeria’s trio of Offiong Edem, Hope Udoaka, and Fatimo Bello to retain their title at the games.
Since dethroning Nigeria at Maputo 2011 in Mozambique, the Egyptian ladies led by Meshref have been dominating the event, continuing their reign as the continent’s best female team.
The coach of Nigeria women’s team, Adedotun Omoniyi, expressed excitement for the medals won in the women’s category, acknowledging that Nigeria did their best in both the singles and team events.
He pointed out the need to work harder in the future to challenge Egypt, stating that while reaching the final was not easy, table tennis had still contributed to Nigeria’s achievement of four medals.
The coach said, “I feel excited for the medals we got in the women’s category because it is better than nothing. Nigeria did their best in the singles and team, we could not cross Egypt but in the future we’ll work harder.
“Getting into the final was not easy but Table Tennis has given Nigeria four medals.”
