Nigeria zooms to men’s doubles final as WTT Contender Lagos ends today

Nigeria’s table tennis players Omotayo Olajide and Azeez Solanke have qualified to the final of the ongoing World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Lagos in the men’s doubles category, marking the country’s first appearance at the final of the tournament.

The 5-days international tournament which ends today has witnessed exhilarating displays of ping-pong games by both foreign and country’s players, thrilling spectators at the Molade Okoya-Thomas indoor sports hall inside Teslim Balogun stadium, Lagos.

The tournament will reach its climax today as winners would be decided in men’s and women’s singles category and men’s and women’s doubles category.

Already in the mixed doubles category, South Korea has emerged as the winner after its duo Lim Jonghoon and Shin Yubin defeated Xu Huiyao and Luo Jiecheng 3-0 yesterday.

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Today, Nigeria will be on the teetering brink of clinching a gold medal as Omotayo Olajide and Azeez Solanke will face Indian Manav Vikash and Harmeet Desai in the Men’s doubles final.

The duo defeated Chinese pair FEI Junhang and LUO Jiecheng in the men’s doubles semis, marking the first appearance of a Nigerian duo in the final.

In the women’s doubles final, it is going to be an all-India affair as Archana Girish and Sreeja Akula will slug it out against Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Parag.

Apart from Omotayo Olajide and Azeez Solanke who reached the final, Nigeria’s Kuti Matthew and Bello Fatimo got the quarter-final of the mixed doubles but were overpowered by the Indian duo of Thakkar Manav Vikash and Kamath Archana Girish, winning 3-0 (11-4, 11-3, 12-10).

Earlier, in the singles game for the male category, Muiz Adegoke muzzled through to reach the round of 16 after he defeated Amadi Omeh 3-2 in the round of 32.

However, he kissed the exit door after he lost to Korean Lim Jonghoon 0-3 at the quarter-final.