September 01, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian paralympic table tennis team on Wednesday lost their semi-final match against the team from Australia, but added a bronze medal to Team Nigeria’s haul at the ongoing 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan.
In the semi-finals of the men’s team Class 9 to 10 table tennis event, Australia beat Nigeria 2-0 to advance to the final. The competition began with the fixture’s doubles match where Nigeria’s Tajudeen Agunbiade and Alabi Olufemi were beaten by the Australian pair of Ma Lin and Joel Coughlan (1-3).
The loss occurred in the first and third sets after Agunbiade and Olufemi rallied to take the second set 11-8 but there was no comeback.
It was all over in the fourth set as the momentum of the only set they won had dissipated by the end of the final set, which the Nigerian duo lost 11-5.
However, the loss was complete when the Australian Ma beat Agunbiade three times in a best of five match in the opening singles. It was a capitulation by the Nigerian, who won the first two sets (11-8, 11-9).
However, Ma dug in and found the extra motivation to take victory as he won the final three sets (11-3, 11-9, 11-8) in a complete and masterful comeback for Team Australia in the table tennis event.
The victory for the Aussies gave them a 2-0 lead in the men’s team Class 9 to 10 event and made a third game, which should have seen Olufemi and Coughlan play another singles game to determine a winner, unnecessary in this team best-of-three match. Nigeria earned the bronze while Australia advanced to Friday’s final where China awaits.
The bronze medal brings Nigeria’s total so far in the tournament to seven (three gold, one silver, and four bronze medals) and leaves the country 31st on the medal table.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
