The day one of the 54th Molade Okoya-Thomas Table Tennis Championships lived up to expectations yesterday as action began amongst participants in the singles event.
At the indoor sports hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, the preliminary stage of the singles event was concluded, which saw defending champions Rilwan Akanbi and Bose Odusanya enjoy an easy ride to the quarterfinals stage.
Also teenage sensation Matthew Kuti was unbeaten in the group stage as the youngster took down most of his opponents to set up a quarterfinal clash against Akanbi in the men’s singles. Today, the tourney will continue with a para event.
Ahead of the quarterfinal, seven times winner in the female cadre, Odusanya stressed she would not rest on her oars to retain her dominance, recounting her disappointing outing at the National Sports Festival.
Table Tennis singles event reach quarter-finals as para games start today
Table Tennis singles event reach quarter-finals as para games start today
“I am here to retain my title and I know that it is not going to be easy because we now have good players in Lagos and I am sure my title will not elude me again this year,” she said.
Also, according to the organisers, four events will be competed for in the para event as class 1-5 and class 6-10 in the men and women singles.
The tournament ends tomorrow with finals in the men and women singles.
