Taiwo Mati dumped two former champions to win his maiden laurel in the men’s singles at the ITTF Africa Western Region Championships as Fatimo Bello claimed her third consecutive title in the women’s singles of the competition.
Mati, who finished fourth at the national trials organized by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF),edged 2019 champion Oba Oba Kizito of Cote d’Ivoire in the quarterfinal as well as his compatriot and 2021 champion, Rilwan Akanbi in the semifinal en route to the final where he defeated compatriot Azeez Solanke 4-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8) to emerge as the new regional champion.
In the women’s singles, Bello continued her dominance with another victory over compatriot Bose Odusanya in the final.
Unbeaten since 2019 when she won the maiden title in Abidjan, Bose showed her class when it mattered most with a 4-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4) win over Odusanya.
“I could not believe that I would finish fourth at the national trials and this really motivated me to work harder for this competition,” Mati explained.“I knew I had to be at my best to be the best and today(Sunday).
“ I was able to show that against my tough rival. He wanted to come back but I just kept to my tactics and this paid off for me at the end of the day for me to win my first regional title,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the team event, host Nigeria dominated the men’s and women’s divisions after beating Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to retain their titles.
Players from Mali, Togo, Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire featured in the three-day championships which also served as qualification for the 2022 African Championships taking place in Algiers later in the year.