From Dotun Omisakin, Lagos
Abdulbasit Abdulfatai and Rabiat Ayoola have emerged as the winners of the 2nd Daniel Ford Elite Youth Invitational Table Tennis Championships in both the U-19 male and female categories.
The 2-day tournament, which witnessed no fewer than 75 top players nationwide, was filled with major upsets from the preliminary stages to the final.
The road to the final unpacked an upset as top player Muiz Adegoke ended his campaign at the group stage, leaving room for a new contender against the winner of the maiden edition Matthew Kuti.
The final of the U-19 male category saw a pulsating contest between Abdulfatai and the 2023 Africa Games gold medalist Kuti as the former who was trailing behind fought back to claim a 4-3 victory (7-11, 10-12, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9) eliciting cheers at the Molade Okoya-Thomas indoor sports hall inside Teslim Balogun Stadium.
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In the girls’ U-19 final, Ayoola also fought back from the brink of defeat to triumph over Aishat Rabiu 4-3 (11-9, 8-11, 14-16, 8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-4) and become the new champion.
In the girls’ U-15 final, Abia State claimed their first national title after Chinenye Okafor defeated Ifeoluwa Ajasa of Lagos State 3-2 (11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11, 11-6). In the boys’ U-15, Abdulamid Adebayo of Lagos stunned Samuel Dada of Kogi 3-2 (4-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7) to become the new boys’ champion.
A relieved Abdulfatai described his win over Kuti as his first triumph over the national champion in all their meetings, praising the sponsor for keeping faith with the tournament.
“Table tennis is definitely a game where anything can happen. We started together so I believe I can also catch-up, then I fought and God helped me.
“He has been my rival since day one. I have never beaten him in an open championship like this,” he said.
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