He shone like a diamond in the neon light at the just concluded 2021 ITTF African Championships in Yaounde as 17-year-old Samuel Boboye defied the odds to humble some of the top players in the competition. OLALEKAN OKUSAN who covered the event writes on the prospect of the Nigerian latest table tennis sensation.
It was at the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF)-organised national championships earlier this year that Samuel Boboye announced his arrival on the big stage with his sterling performances against some of the finest players in the country.
He did it in grand style by edging out some former national champions en route to the final where he eventually lost to national champion Taiwo Mati. His consistency in the sport continued when he also featured in the Lagos Top 16 where he dazzled and this prompted NTTF to include the teenager in the contingent to the 24th ITTF African Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon.
He was in the team which had experienced players like Quadri Aruna, Bode Abiodun, Olajide Omotayo, Azeez Solanke and Taiwo Mati. But from the start of the tournament in Yaounde, the youngster could not feature in some of the team matches due to the depth of the experienced players in the team but he was gently waiting for his time.
And when the time came for Boboye to show his stuff in the men’s singles after being drawn against Tokyo 2020 Olympian Algeria’s Larbi Bouriah, the youngster rose to the occasion.
The Nigerian youngster dominated from the start to the end to record the first upsets of the tournament. The venue of the match, Sports Palace Complex was thrown into excitement as the young Nigerian pulled down one of the favourites in the first round of the men’s singles. He claimed a flawless win of 4-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5).
The victory was regarded as the first major upset in the singles’ events, Boboye was easily the better of the two players, gaining the admiration of the fans since he showed maturity that belies his age by convincingly beaten the Algerian Olympian.
“I knew nothing about him apart from his being one of the players that featured at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” Boboye told NationSport.” I was very confident going into the match and I was very positive throughout the entire match. I am happy that I won my first game.
” I am excited to be a part of the team that had Quadri Aruna; his presence alone motivated me; I am hoping to go far and be ready to face any opponent that comes my way,” Boboye added.
Later, the Nigerian was handed an uphill task against Cameroon’s Nelson Nsoh Nji who is regarded as one of the most feared players in the competition.
This time around, Boboye played with a lot of cactus due to the nature of his opponent’s racket.
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Despite taking more time to play against the Cameroonian, Boboye came out victorious again to set another record against an experienced player. He won the tie at 4-2 (11-9, 11-13, 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-8) to set up another mouth-watering clash against former African champion and veteran of the sport, Ahmed Saleh of Egypt.
Boboye again proved bookmakers wrong at the start of the tie with a 12-10 win. But his inexperience came to the fore against Saleh as he squandered some begging chances to hand the Egyptian a 4-1 (10-12, 11-9, 11-3, 11-9, 11-8) which put an end to his good run in the last 16.
Meanwhile, Boboye also partnered Solanke in the men’s doubles, and on their way to the semifinal, they humbled top-rated pairs before being defeated by their compatriots and eventual champion Aruna and Abiodun in the semifinal. As a debutant in the event, they had to settle for bronze.
For Portugal-based Abiodun, players like Boboye is rare to discover while hoping that efforts would be made to expose him to more tournaments outside Nigeria.
“I am personally impressed with this young man called Boboye because I was surprised with the quality displayed by him against some of the top players, Abiodun said
” He showed maturity on the table and he played with a lot of confidence which has been lacking in some of our young players. I see him as the next big thing after Aruna in Nigeria table tennis,” Abiodun added.
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