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Tag: Bode Abiodun

  • Abiodun, Toriola, others may get improved ranking

    Despite their early exits at the 2019 ITTF World Championships in Budapest, Nigeria’s Bode Abiodun, Segun Toriola, Olajide Omotayo, Olfunke Oshonaike, Edem Offiong and Ajoke Ojomu may get improved ranking when the May 2019 ITTF ranking is released next week.

    From their performance in Budapest, it was clear that the win recorded by the Nigerians will rub off positively on their fortune in the latest ranking.

    Despite going out from the group stages, Toriola, Omotayo, Oshonaike, Offiong and Ojomu will be rewarded for their victory against their opponents with ranking points as well as participation bonus points when the rating will be unveiled.

    However, Abiodun who was unbeaten in the group may get a much more improvement following his exploits in the group and for making the knockout round of the preliminary.

    The best performing African player in the competition is Aruna Quadri and there are strong indications that he might jumped into top 20 in the world.

    Despite exiting in the first round of the men’s singles, Egypt’s Omar Assar and Ahmed Saleh may also gain some points for starting their campaigns from the main draw.

    Dina Meshref, the only African female player that progressed to the second round of the women’s singles will surely get an improved rating when the ranking is released next week.

  • Abiodun misses out in main draw

    It was a narrow loss for Bode Abiodun yesterday as the only surviving Nigerian that waded through the group stage to compete in the preliminary knockout of the 2019 World Championships holding in Budapest, Hungary.

    Abiodun was unbeaten from the group stage and even in the final match to decide his fate to the main draw, the Nigerian was in the driving seat before his Saudi Arabia’s opponent – Ali Alkhadrawi caught up with his to end the encounter at 4-3 to the disappointment of the fans.

    However, the Germany-based Saudi Arabian star admitted that it was tough beating Abiodun.

    “It was indeed a very difficult match and when I was down 1-3 my coach just told me to continue the match and not to give up. I am very happy and proud to be playing in the main draw of the World Championships. This has been my dream to play in the big stage like the World Championships and I hope to go further now that I am in the main draw. My opponent was very good in forehand; his attack and service were very difficult for me. I am so happy that I will be playing in the main draw with the best players in the world,” Alkhadrawi said.

    Also, Edem Offiong hope of playing in the main draw was ended by her Swedish counterpart in the final group match of the women’s singles.

  • ETTU Cup: Quadri, Abiodun in battle for final spot

    Nigeria’s duo of Aruna Quadri and Bode Abiodun will be facing the biggest battle of their career this season as they lead their Portuguese club – Sporting into the second leg semifinal of the ETTU Cup against star-studded French side – GV Hennebont.

    However, it was the end of the road for Edem Offiong and Jamiu Azeez yesterday at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open after the duo lost their second and third matches to miss out from progressing to the knockout stage of the singles event of the championship.

    In the ETTU Cup semifinal, Quadri and Abiodun will be aiming to emulate Germany’s Saarbrücken, who turned the tide against K.S. Dekorglass Dzialdowo in their away second leg on Wednesday to edge out the Polish side from beating them to the final spot.

    Just like Sporting, Saarbrücken lost their first leg at home to the Polish side but they changed the fortune for the home team with a convincing win to berth in the final where they will be awaiting the winner between Sporting and Hennebont.

    Already, the French team has an edge over Sporting after beating Quadri and teammates 3-2 in Lisbon on March 7 while today in front of their home fans, the French side led by Englishman, Liam Pitchford will be aiming for total dominance to beat the Portuguese side to the final slot.

    The first leg was single-handedly delivered to the French side by the informed Englishman – Pitchford who had to defeat Quadri and Diogo Carvalho to claim two wins while the deciding match involving Carvalho and Belgian Cedric Nuytinck turned out to be the undoing for Quadri and his team as the Portuguese international squandered a 2-0 lead to surrender the win to the Belgian at 2-3 to give the visiting French side a 3-2 first leg win.

    Today, it promises to be exciting as both sides are aiming for a place in the final after missing out from the ETTU Champions League and hoping to use the ETTU to pacify their fans.

  • Gold Coast 2018: Nigeria reaches Table Tennis team final

    Nigeria’s table tennis team on Monday defeated England 3-2 in the men’s team semi-finals at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

    The News men reports that the team will face India in the final.

    Segun Toriola lost Nigeria’s first match 3-2 ( 14-12, 9-11, 7-11,13-11,7-11 ) to Paul Drinkhall, but in match 2, Bode Abiodun recovered from two sets down to beat Liam Pitchford 3-2 ( 8-11,9-11-4,13-11,11-5 ).

    The pair of Olajide Omotayo and Segun Toriola beat the duo of Samuel Walker and Paul Drinkhall 3-1 ( 2-11, 11-7,12-10,11-7 ) in match 3.

    Read Also: Commonwealth Games: Nigeria’s reach 100m Final

    Although Olajide Omotayo lost 3-2 ( 11-9, 4-11, 8-11, 11-9, 5-11 ) to Liam Pitchford in match 4, Bode Abiodun sealed Nigeria’s place in the final by beating Samuel Walker in match 5 with a nervy 3-2 ( 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8 ) win.

    The Nigerian had defeated host Australia 3-1 in the quarter-finals, as well as Belize 3-0 and Malaysia 3-1 in the group games.

    NAN

  • Abiodun leads Nigeria against Belize, Malaysia in table tennis

    BODE Abiodun will lead Nigeria’s quest for honours against Belize and Malaysia in the first round of the men’s team event of table tennis at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, following the late arrival of Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola in Australia.

    Abiodun, who will arrive early today, will lead the duo of Olajide Omotayo and Azeez Jamiu against Central American nation of Belize.

    Portugal-based Abiodun is expected to arrive early  today just a few hours before the first game against the Belize side.

    Club engagement delayed Quadri and Toriola, who are expected to join the team tomorrow, with the hope of featuring in the quarter-final tie.

    The youthful Belize team will be led by Devesh Hukmani as well as Rohit Pagarani and Terry Su and they are expected to play on table four at the Oxenford Studios.

    In the second group match, the Nigerian side will battle the talented Malaysian side led by Javen Choong, as well as Chee Feng Leong and Muhammad Ashraf and the clash will be played on table two to decide the two teams that will advance to the knockout stage (main draw).

  • Quadri, others know fate today in latest ITTF ranking

    Quadri, others know fate today in latest ITTF ranking

    There may be possible tilting in the top 30 when the February ranking of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is released today by the world table tennis ruling body with Aruna Quadri and other Nigerians hoping for an improvement in their world rating.
    For his performance at the last Hungarian Open where made it to the quarter-final stage, there are strong indications that Aruna Quadri will rise above 25th in the world, while Italy-based Olajide Omotayo who managed to record a victory in his matches at the Hungarian Open may also benefit in the latest ranking.
    25th in the world being the highest to have been achieved by an African,  Quadri may be hoping to etch another landmark with the possibility of shifting the goal post for other African players to aim at when the ranking is made public today in Switzerland.
    Unlike Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo, the trio of Bode Abiodun, Ojo Onaolapo and Kazeem Makanjuola may be on the receiving ends following their below-par performance at the Hungarian Open as they all suffered defeats in all their matches.
    Quadri’s doubles partner for this year’s ITTF World Tour – Egypt’s Omar Assar may not really benefit from the ranking after not being able to advance beyond the main draw of the Hungarian Open despite being seeded number 15 in the men’s singles of the competition.
  • NTTF National Championships: Singles event serves off as tournament hots up

    NTTF National Championships: Singles event serves off as tournament hots up

    As the singles event of the ongoing Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) National Championship begins today, the tournament has continued to throw up surprises in the team events.
    Already winners have emerged in the team events with focus shifting to the singles as players are eyeing the star prize of N200, 000 jackpot for the singles champions.
    Also, the knockout stage of the para event began yesterday with former Paralympians aiming for the coveted trophy as well as the juicy prize money at stake.
    Number one seed in the class 6-10 of the para event, Faith Obiora believes she would be unstoppable having featured at the last Rio Paralympic Games.
    Also, Nick Chinedu is sure that his ambition of becoming the number para star in the men’s class 6-10 is coming close to reality.
    For former national junior champion, Nurudeen Hassan, his aim is to prove his mettle against other top players.
    “I am in this competition to show what I can do particularly having being part of the team to the last ITTF Africa Senior Championship held in Agadir, Morocco. The experience I garnered while playing alongside Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola as well as Bode Abiodun. It is going to be a tall order for me but I am confident that I can be the champion in the men’s singles. I am also fascinated with how the best players across the country are competing in this championship and I just hope we can have more of this in 2017,” Hassan said.

  • Quadri remains 25th in ITTF World Ranking

    Quadri remains 25th in ITTF World Ranking

    Despite not making it beyond the first round at the ITTF World Cup coupled with his second place finish at the last ITTF Africa Senior Championships, Aruna Quadri maintained his 25th spot in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world ranking released at the weekend.
    Also in the November world ranking, African women’s singles champion, Olufunke Oshonaike made a giant stride in the world rating as the Germany-based star rose to 206 from 253 as the highest ranked Nigerian female player in the world.
    Seven-time Olympian, Segun Toriola also moved up the ranking as the former African champion is now rated 101 from 109 where he was in October. Toriola maintained his place as the third highest ranked African player in the world.
    Bode Abiodun also moved from 183 to 175 in the ranking while Azeez Jamiu, Olajide Omotayo and Nurudeen Hassan made entries into the ranking list.
    Quadri’s conqueror at the ITF Africa Senior Championships, Egypt’s Omar Assar fortune improved in the latest ranking as the Egyptian rose from 57 to 49.
    Meanwhile, Quadri has solicited the support of his fans globally to vote for him as the ITTF Star Player of the year through the ITTFStarawards.com.

  • ‘We’ll reclaim our top spot from Nigeria’

    ‘We’ll reclaim our top spot from Nigeria’

    Despite not been part of the three-man Egyptian team that lost to Nigeria in 2015, Ahmed Saleh believes their main mission at the ongoing ITTF African Senior Championships is to wrestle the title back from the West African team.

    Saleh who is part of the six-man Egyptian men’s team in Agadir, Morocco has boasted that nothing can prevent them from dethroning Nigeria as Africa’s best male team.

    “Our aim in this competition is to reclaim our title because we narrowly lost it to Nigeria at the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville. After this defeat, we have been working very hard to ensure we claim back the laurel because, for years, we held the title in Africa.Again, I must admit that the presence of Segun Toriola in the Nigerian team will make it very harder for us because

    “Again, I must admit that the presence of Segun Toriola in the Nigerian team will make it very harder for us because Toriola is a very dangerous player with a lot of experience. Even without Bode Abiodun in the Nigerian team, the fact that Toriola is in the team makes harder for us again. But having seen Mohammed El-Beiali beating Aruna Quadri in the Arab Club Championship, we are confidence that we can do it again,” Saleh said.

    The former African champion believes getting to the final for Egypt would be a problem as their main challenge is the final where they will likely battle Nigeria for the title and the sole slot of Africa for the 2017 World Team Cup.

  • Olympics: Nigeria battles China in men’s table tennis

    Olympics: Nigeria battles China in men’s table tennis

    Africa’s table tennis sensation, Aruna Quadri will today return to table alongside his teammates – Segun Toriola and Bode Abiodun as the West African side takes on powerhouse, China in the first round of the men’s team event at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

    The star-studded Chinese team who are the defending champion will be led by world number one, Ma Long as well as teammates – Zhan Jike and Xu Xin as they begin their title defence against the Africa’s champion. The trio of Ma Long, Zhan Jike and Xu Xin are ranked number one, four and three respectively in the world against Nigeria’s lowly-ranked side led by Aruna Quadri rated 40th in the world.

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    With the Chinese dominating the singles after claiming gold and silver medals in the men and women singles events, they will be aiming to add the team events to their laurels but they will have to start with Nigeria later today.

    Also, Africa’s flag-bearers in the women’s team event, Egypt will also be in action today against star-studded Singapore in the first round tie.

    In other men’s team matches, Great Britain will battle France – a repeat of the round of 16 encounter at the last World Team Championship in Malaysia. Sweden takes on the United States while host – Brazil will slug it out with Korea Republic.

    In the women’s team matches, host – Brazil will battle defending champion, China while Germany takes on United States.

    Winners of the first round match progress to the quarterfinal stage of the championship with the table tennis event ending on August 17.

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