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Tag: Funke Oshonaike

  • Funke Oshonaike: How my dream of playing at 8th Olympics was dashed  

    Funke Oshonaike: How my dream of playing at 8th Olympics was dashed  

    Olufunke Oshonaike remains one of Africa’s most successful female table tennis players having won several continental laurels at African Games, Championships and Cup. As of today, she is the only female table tennis player across the world to have attended seven Olympic Games from Atlanta 1996 to Tokyo 2020. Her attempt to set a new record of attending eight Olympic Games was dashed at the just concluded African Championships in Tunis, but the Germany-based mother of two took solace in the gold medal she claimed in the women’s doubles event alongside Fatimo Bello, writes OLALEKAN OKUSAN.

    AT 49, Olufunke Oshonaike remains the most active African female table tennis player still competing at top level. The mother of two made it to two finals at the just concluded ITTF African Championships in Tunis, Tunisia while her dream of becoming the first Nigerian and African to feature in eight Olympic Games was halted in the finals of the team and mixed doubles events.

    OLDEST WOMAN IN TUNIS

    Considered as the oldest woman in Tunis, Oshonaike played with tenacity and confidence in all her games that she humbled some young players on her way to the finals of the Team and Mixed Doubles event.

    Despite guiding Nigeria women team to the final of the team event which served as qualification to the Paris Olympic Games, Oshonaike could not withstand the speed of the young Egyptians ladies for Nigeria to bow to a 3-0 defeat and concede the continental sole ticket to the North Africans.

    MIXED DOUBLES

    Again, she wanted to get her passage to Paris through the mixed doubles event which also served as qualification for Paris 2024 Olympic Games and her partnership with Olajide Omotayo worked their way to the final to set up a final against Egyptian pair of Omar Assar and Dina Meshref.

    When they won the first game, there was hope that Oshonaike’s dream might become a reality, but the Egyptians changed gear for the Nigerian pair, and they overwhelmed Oshonaike and her partner with a 3-1 win to surrender the ticket to Assar and Meshref.

    GOLD MEDAL

    But a determined Oshonaike was not ready to leave Tunis without nothing to show for her effort and her partnership with Fatimo Bello paid off as they claimed Nigeria’s first gold medal in the women’s doubles event as they defeated Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou and Egypt’s Marwa Alhodaby 3-2 to become the new African champion in the event.

    But Oshonaike was not too happy that she could not achieve her dream of playing at eight Olympic Games.

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    “I actually wanted my big dream to come true, that is winning the ticket for the Olympics this time around and you know it is a very big dream this time. I knew it was going to be difficult but one thing about me is that impossibility is nothing in life for me. I really wanted it to be like I’m going to be the first player in the world of table tennis that would have gone to my eight Olympic Games. Unfortunately, I was very close yet far. I won silver in the team and mixed doubles events to lose the tickets.

    “But I was a bit tired in the singles event because I played too many matches and, in the doubles, I won gold medal and that put a big smile on my face because it has been a long time since I won a gold medal for Nigeria.

    “Most of the time, it has always been silver after Egypt. To win gold for Nigeria at this age when I’m giving up already, I’m very happy and excited. I feel really good because it is something I never expected to get to the final, not to talk of winning the gold medal in the doubles and even getting to the final in the mixed doubles.

    “We all know how it is right now in table tennis, everybody is getting better, but it is a good thing that everybody is very fast. I’m really happy for the strength and thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to come and represent my country again. I’m grateful to God and very happy. Gold medal is not easy to win in table tennis in Africa and I’m very happy,” she said.

    However, Oshonaike is yet to officially announce her retirement as she is still ready to wear the colour of Nigeria at major tournaments while hoping that she would get another chance to fight for an Olympic Games ticket.

  • Aruna reigns over Omar Assar at ITTF Africa Cup

    Aruna reigns over Omar Assar at ITTF Africa Cup

    The years of domination by Egypt’s Omar Assar over Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri came to an on Monday, July 3 at the 2017 ITTF Africa Cup in Agadir, Morocco, as the Nigerian dug deep to beat his continental rival 4-3 to emerge as the champion in the men’s singles.

    Also, the victory qualifies Aruna Quadri to this year’s ITTF World Cup, being the second consecutive time the Nigerian will be representing Africa at the global stage.

    Despite playing without any coach, Aruna Quadri knew what was at stake in the encounter and he was calm and collected throughout the match to have an edge over the Egyptian.

    Even when he was losing vital points, Aruna Quadri showed class and even the spectators applauded the Nigerian for his conduct and professionalism during the encounter.

    To emerge as the new African Champion, Aruna Quadri defeated Omar Assar 4-3 and this Nigerian believes luck worked for him in the encounter.

    “I am so happy today that I won because it was not an easy match. I am happy that my backhand worked well in the match because I was afraid to use it against my friend – Omar Assar whom I know was in his best form this time. I think Omar Assar played and that it was just luck, today because sometimes luck plays a crucial role in matches,” Aruna Quadri told NationSport after his victory.

    The Vice President of African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Olabanji Oladapo who watched the final, described Aruna Quadri as a true ambassador of Nigeria who needs more support now.

    “I am so proud of Aruna Quadri and Funke Oshonaike because they played without coach against the Egyptians who had their coaches with them. They made the country proud and the match between Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar was highly technical and this goes to show that we need good and quality coach to handle our players because having played good players without coach and won, it is obvious that we need a more experienced coach to handle our top players. I am so proud and all my colleagues in ATTF congratulated me,” Oladapo said.

  • Nigeria’s Schedule at the Olympics

    Nigeria’s Schedule at the Olympics

    Barely 20 Hours to the kick-off of the much expected 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, a full schedule of the sporting activities in which Team Nigeria will participate has been released.

    As the Olympics is scheduled to start on Friday, Nigeria will first feature in a Group B Men’s tournament football match against Japan after which the country’s flag bearer at the Olympics, Funke Oshonaike and her male Table Tennis counterpart Segun Toriola, will participate in the preliminaries of the table tennis singles.

    Thereafter, Nigerian football team will play the second leg of the Group B match against Sweden on Sunday at about 2:00am Nigerian time.

    On Monday, the Basket Ball team will take on their Argentine counterparts in the first leg of the Group B match of the men’s tournament.

    Team Nigeria will participate in Rowing, Football, Basket Ball, Table Tennis, Boxing, Athletics, Swimming and a few others.

    For the full schedule, kindly click here

  • Oshonaike inspires us, says Atinuke

    Oshonaike inspires us, says Atinuke

    Funke Oshonaike’s  presence at the ongoing  International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championships may have started yielding positives and this became obvious during the women’s doubles encounter against Egypt.

    Oshonaike’s partner in the women’s doubles, Olaide Atinuke, told SportingLife that the Germany-based player inspired her during the quarter-final tie against Egypt duo of Helmy Yousra and Abdel-Aziz Farah.

    “Prior to the match, I was not feeling too fine even before we played the round of 16 match against another Egyptian team. But she was always telling me not to focus on the sickness but play my game. Even when I was getting nervous on table, she was there encouraging me not to give up. This alone showed that she is a true leader and her presence in this team is indeed a plus. She has been carrying and motivating us and telling us to do our best. The way she plays has confirmed that she loves the game and is still in shape despite her age,” she said.

    She added: “I am the happiest player because I was not feeling fine before the match but my partner – Funke Oshonaike encouraged me that I could do it. With her support, I think I played well. The Egyptians are very good especially Yousra Helmy who defeated Cecilia Akpan in the team event. I watched her game and knew her weakness. I think we had a good service coupled our reception, it really helped us. We also attacked them a lot because I most times initiated the attack and my partner followed it up. I am happy that we played well because the Egyptians are very good.”

  • Oshonaike: We’ll make amend in singles, doubles

    Oshonaike: We’ll make amend in singles, doubles

    Not many believe that  Funke Oshonaike still has what it takes to play against the best in Africa, but with what the former African champion has displayed so far at the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championship, it is clear that she is still relevant to the Nigerian team.

    The mother of two fought well against the youthful Egyptians and she lived up to expectations with her ferocious shot, which most times confused the North Africans. She dazed the North Africans with her superlative performance that everyone in the International Hall of Police Sport Association in Cairo, was wowed by her scintillating display.

    However, the Germany-based star was disappointed that Nigeria could not capitalise on their 2-0 to beat the Egyptians in the women’s team final. Nevertheless, she is taking solace in the singles and doubles events which serve off today.

    “I was so disappointed and pained that we could not win the match having taken the lead. It was very painful to me because the Egyptians never believed what befell them in the first two matches. Before, they would have finished the match at 3-0. But with what they saw us play, they are now afraid that we are coming up again. I must commend my teammates for their good performance because we played our best and I am sure by now, they (Egypt) will know that they still have Nigeria at their jugular. We played them well and we knew that we can still improve even as we look forward to the singles and doubles events to make amend for what befell up in the women’s team final,” she said.

    An excited Oshonaike said that with the way Nigeria played against the Egyptians, the race for the top prize at the next All Africa Games is tighter as there are no minnows in the game in Africa.

    “I want to tell you that All Africa Games will be keenly contested for this year because all the countries have improved as everybody is now playing well and the Egyptians now know that their dominance era is coming to an end and they will now start working harder for the games. For us in Nigeria, we just need to support our players to attend more competitions and train well so that we can return the country back to its place on the continent,” she added.

  • Egypt topples Nigeria in women’s final

    Egypt topples Nigeria in women’s final

    From 2-0 down,  Egypt gave their   fans something to cheer at the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Senior Championship in Cairo, as their women team beat Nigeria to clinch gold in the team event.

    From the start of the match, it was as if the North Africans had been silenced with Edem Offiong beating Nadeen El-Dawlatly 3-0 while Funke Oshonaike increased it to 2-0 after beating Dina Meshref 3-1.

    But things turned around for the Egyptians in the third match which was inspired by 18-year-old Yousra Helmy, who defeated Cecilia Otu-Akpan 3-0 for the game to change.

    Helmy’s win was the tonic the Egyptians needed to come back and win the match at 3-2. The Egypt trio described the victory as a cherished one, especially coming from 2-0 down to win at 3-2.

    “The win was special because I have never beaten Funke Oshoniake before. In the first match against Edem Offiong I was a bit nervous and I knew we might likely meet again, so I just played my game. I didn’t  believe we could come back, so this victory was indeed a very special one for us as a team,” said Nadeen El-Dawlatly.

    For Meshref, “Playing against Edem Offiong, I knew I had to give 100 percent concentration because we might not have any other time to win than this. So we gave our best and we won.”

    However, the youngest player in the team, Helmy said: “In playing the third game, I was nervous because I had never played against any Nigerian player before and I thought I just had to give my best. Winning the first game was vital but it was also difficult as well. But when I won it my confidence grew and my morale was boosted to finish up the game. I am happy that we won the game because I knew that if I did not win, it would be hard for us to win.”

     

  • Mixed fortunes for Nigeria

    Mixed fortunes for Nigeria

    • As female team records first win

    The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday acknowledged the outstanding performance of the Nigeria male team at the ongoing 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championship after the Segun Toriola-captained side defeated highly rated Belgium team in the competition.

    Also on Tuesday, the female team led by Funke Oshonaike recorded their first win of the tournament against Italy in their third group game of Group G.

    On Monday, the Nigeria men’s team had walloped Indonesia 3-0 while on Tuesday; they did the impossible against the Belgian side.

    In Group E, Nigeria beat Belgium 3-1 with Aruna Quadri being the man of the moment while Ojo Onaolapo played a vital supporting role in the victory. Quadri started the onslaught for Nigeria when he beat Belgium’s Yannick Vostes 5-11, 2-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-7 and Cédric Nyutinck 11-8, 2-11, 11-4, 2-11, 11-9; while Onaolapo accounted for Florent Lambiet 8-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 11-3. Cédric Nyutinck, recorded the only success for Belgium in the second match of the fixture, when he overcame

    Toriola 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2.

    “I am really happy that we were able to beat Belgium, because we knew how good they are”, said Toriola who now combines coaching with playing.

    “We expected Jean-Michel Saive to be playing but instead they opted for young Cédric Nyutinck who really surprised us, he beat me, a good tactical choice by Belgium, because they know I’ve played Saive many times and I know his game inside out”, added Segun Toriola.

    “Besides playing, I am also active as a coach and I am very happy with the fact that we’ve brought young players to Tokyo like Quadri and Onaolapo. They have a really good potential and after I finish my career, I want to coach them and bring them to a high level”, continued Toriola.

    “In Nigeria table tennis is very popular but we don’t get much support from the government, which favours football and that is why it’s very difficult to keep young players motivated.”

    For the women’s team the triumph over Italy was a revenge of what the Italian did to the team in 2012.

    Since the commencement of the tournament on Monday, the Nigerian ladies have lost to India 3-1 and Bulgaria 3-1. But the needed victory came against the Italians when Edem Offiong defeated Debora Vivarelli 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 4-11 and Oshonaike increased the tally with another 3-0 bashing of Lisa Ridolfi. But Cecilia Otu-Akpan was unlucky against Chiara Colantoni when she lost 3-2.

    To make the victory certain for Nigeria, Oshonaike fought well against Vivarelli to win 3-2 to give Nigeria an overall 3-1 win. However, the unbeaten run of the Nigerian male team came to an end on

    Tuesday when the team was defeated 3-0 by the division two number one seed team, Czech Republic.