Three Nigerian Table Tennis players Book Olympic Tickets To Tokyo as Quadri waits
Nigeria will be represented by 3 players in the Table Tennis Singles event at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Funke Oshonaike will be appearing at the Olympics for the 7th time, setting a record as the first African female to take part in seven Olympic Games. She defeated Cameroon’s Sarah Hannfou 4-1 (12-10, 11-4, 4-11, 11-7, 11-6)
Edem Offiong was however the first to pick a ticket after defeating Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci 4-3 (13-11,11-1,9-11,11-95-11,8-11,11-6) at the Olympic Qualifiers Tournament in Tunis.
In the men’s qualifiers, a major upset was recorded as Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri bowed to Senegalese Ibrahim Diaw who defeated him by 4 sets to 2
(11-7,11-8,11-8,6-11,11-13,11-7) to qualify.
Quadri exited the tournament following a thigh injury but will secure his spot through the world ranking. He is the only player in the top 20 yet to pick a slot in Tokyo.
Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo will be making his debut at the Tokyo Games.
Qualifiers in the mixed doubles are expected to emerge on Saturday February 29. Segun Toriola and Funke Oshonaike will face the duo of Egypt’s Omar Assar and Dina Meshref.
