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Tag: Segun Toriola

  • ITTF Africa: Toriola, Edem inch closer to Olympics’ dream

    ITTF Africa: Toriola, Edem inch closer to Olympics’ dream

    Segun Toriola’s dream of making it to the seventh Olympic Games in Brazil is getting closer after the former African champion dominated Group One in the preliminary stage of the ITTF Africa Olympics Qualification Tournament holding in Khartoum, Sudan.

    Also, Edem Offiong who finished fourth at the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup is getter a ray of hope of playing in her third Olympics after coming top in Group One of the women’s preliminaries.

    Paris-based Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou also had an easy ride to the second round while the omly upset in the first stage was caused by unseeded Tunisia’s Safa Saidani who defeated number 10 seed, Algeria’s Isem Laid 3-1 to put her Olympics dream on the right track.

    The 24 year-old Tunisian told NationSport after the match that, “My dream is to become African champion because I train very hard in Tunis but I did not have quality players to train with. Most of the female players in Tunisia are juniors and I must be playing with top players to be able to get stronger in the game.

    I noticed that Nigerian players have always being my waterloo in major tournaments in Africa. Specifically, Olufunke Oshonaike has been my undoing in tournaments but I know that as I continue to work hard, my dream of ruling the continent will be getting closer,” Safa Saidani said.

    She described the victory over Algeria’s Islem Laid as a morale booster of her dream of picking one of the two slots for the Rio 2016 Olympics. “This is the first time I would be playing against Islem and I am happy that I was able to defeat her because she is a good player.

    “I most times find it difficult to play against any playing using pimples but today my service and my forehand were my saving grace against her. I will continue to work hard and I know that being my appearance at the Olympics qualifiers, I still have more years ahead of me to feature in future events and hopefully I will fulfil my dream.”

    On Wednesday, the tournament continues with the knockout stage while the finalists in the men and women events will automatically qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Why I couldn’t make it to Sudan – Oshonaike

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Why I couldn’t make it to Sudan – Oshonaike

    After absenting herself from the 2016 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup in Sudan, six-time Olympian, Olufunke Oshonaike has blamed it on paucity of fund.

    The trio of Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola and Edem Offiong had to sponsor themselves to the tournament after the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) failed the secure the needed fund for the trip from the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    However, the Germany-based star told NationSport from her base in Hamburg that she would have loved to be at the tournament but she could not raise the fund to prosecute the trip. She lamented that it is disheartening that athletes had to be using their hard-earned money to represent their fatherland.

    “I don’t think this is too good for the country that in the year of the Olympics and we had a competition that would have helped us prepare well and unfortunately we could not get fund from NSC. At several times, we had to sponsor ourselves to competition and I think this is not too good for us because we also have responsibilities to our family,” she lamented.

    For the players competing at the Rio Olympics, Oshonaike tasked NSC to support all athletes to fulfil their dream of making the country proud. “Being the Olympics year, I want to use this medium to task the NSC to please support every athlete going to the Olympics in Brazil because this is the biggest stage for all of us,” she added.

    Meanwhile, Nigerian players failed to make it to the final in the women event after Edem Offiong was defeated 4-1 in the semifinal by Egypt’s Dina Meshref.

  • ITTF Africa Olympics: Toriola begins chase for seventh appearance

    ITTF Africa Olympics: Toriola begins chase for seventh appearance

    To set a new Nigeria and Africa records, 42 year-old Nigeria’s Segun Toriola will today in Khartoum at the ITTF Africa Olympics Qualification Tournament begins chase for his seventh appearance at the multi-sports championship holding in Brazil.

    Toriola, who is at present the most successful table tennis player in the continent have won more than 20 individual gold medals at the African Games while still remains the most successful player at the Olympics after making it to the fourth round in the men’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China has featured in all Olympics since making his debut at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in Spain.

    Apart from being winning more medals at the African Games, Toriola, who is also the most decorated player in all continental competition will be battling for the two slots in the men’s event alongside another ageing star, Nigeria-born Congo Brazzaville’s warlord, Saka Suraju who is also his targeting his third appearance at the Olympics.

    Toriola who narrowly missed out from qualifying at the 2015 African Games is aiming for the slot and he told NationSport recently that he would love to fulfil his dream of returning to the Olympics.

    At the last African Games in Congo Brazzaville, Toriola single-handedly aided Nigeria’s dominance against Egypt in the men’s team event after beating the best player in the continent, Egypt’s Omar Assar to pave way for Nigeria to claim gold in the event at the expense of the North Africans.

    Also, Nigeria’s Edem Offiong will be hoping to the Olympics as she will also be competing in the women event for one of the two slots at stake in their category. Offiong, who recently returned to Portugal after the African Games has vowed to work her way to Brazil in Sudan. “I will love to go to the Olympics after attending Athens 2004 and London 2012. This is the biggest stage in sports and for me, I think I am capable of achieving my dream in Sudan having trained well in my club in Portugal,” she boasted.

    Already, Aruna Quadri and Olufunke Oshonaike has secured their places in Brazil while the jostle for continental slots in the men and women team event will hold at the World Team Championship in Malaysia this month.

    28 athletes from Algeria, Ghana, Sudan, Libya, Madagascar, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo DRC, Burundi, Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya will compete for the two slots remaining for men in Africa while 16 will slug it out for the two slots in the women.

  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Toriola move to second round

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Toriola move to second round

    Nigeria’s duo of Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola had easy passage to the second round of the ongoing ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup after winning their group matches in Khartoum, Sudan over the weekend.
    The tournament which serves as qualifiers to determine the players (men and women) that will represent Africa at the 2016 ITTF World Cups has 32 players competing in the men and women events.
    QUADRI maintained 100 per cent with victories over Togo’s Mawussi Agbetoglo, Algeria’s Aissa Belkaddi and Sudan’s Mohamed Nadir to top the group and advanced to the knockout stage.
    Also, Toriola was in fine form with wins over Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu, Algeria’s Soudes Alassani and Ghana’s Derek Abrefa to Berth in the knockout stage.
    Egypt’s duo of Omar Assar and El-Sayed Lashin also maintained their status with 100 per cent wins.
    In the women’s event, the likes of Nigeria’s Edem Offiong, Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing and Egypt’s pair of Dina Meshref recorded outright victories in their matches to progress to the knockout stage.
    Meanwhile, the tournament number one seed, Egypt’s Omar Assar told NationSport that he is not under any pressure to win the tournament ahead of others.
    “I feel no pressure at all because I am one of the youngest players at the tournament and I am looking forward to show a good performance.”
    “I am very excited for Sudan as first Continental tournament in 2016 and it will be my first visit to Sudan as well. 2015 was full of African Events and all went well for me and were very successful as I wish Sudan will follow the same way and even better performance,” he said.
    With his performance at the 2015 ITTF World Cup in Sweden, Omar Assar is eager to return to the big stage this year. “Sure the World Cup is a great tournament to play and I would love to repeat my experience once more after playing well in Halmstad, Sweden in 2015.”
    Apart from aiming for the title in Sudan, Omar Assar believes the tournament can help him to assess his preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympics. “Sudan is a big part of my way to Rio 2016 Olympics. So it is important to measure my practice and preparation in the last few months.”
    He however, enunciated his target for 2016. “My target in 2016 is to reach even higher in my table tennis level and to play each match and competition with high focus and good performance,” he revealed.

  • ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Assar rivalry moves to Sudan

    ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup: Quadri, Assar rivalry moves to Sudan

    In continuation of their 2015 fierce rivalry, two of Africa’s best table tennis players, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Egypt’s Omar Assar will next month in Khartoum, Sudan re-enact their competition at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Top 16 Cup.

      Despite being seeded ahead of Quadri in the December continental ranking released by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Assar is aware of the task ahead of him having being humiliated in the French league by the 2014 ITTF Star Player last December.

      Quadri, who has fended off the pressure on him which affected most of his performance against the Egyptian in three major finals in 2015, is the right frame of mind to wrestle the dominance from the Egyptian.

      For the Sudan tournament, ATTF has confirmed Quadri and six-time Olympian, Segun Toriola as well as Olufunke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong as Nigeria’s flag-bearers.

      In the list of qualified released by ATTF, Quadri who won the tournament in 2014 in Lagos will battle for the title against his rival, Assar who has remained a threat to the Nigerian dominating the continent.

      The tournament is scheduled to hold on February 14 to 15 has the top 15 players in the continent including a player from the host country to complete the top 16.

      Toriola will join Quadri to compete for the laurel in the men’s event while Oshonaike who has already secured a place at this year’s Rio Olympic Games in Brazil will be joined in the women event by Edem Offiong who is at present plying her trade in the Portuguese elite league.

      Having claimed three titles in 2015, the Egyptian duo of Omar Assar and Dina Meshref top the list of invitees for the two-day tournament to be staged at the International Conference Centre in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan.

      Winners in the men and women events will represent the continent at the 2016 World Cups.

      The list of participants is: 

    Men:  Omar Assar (Egypt), Quadri Aruna (Nigeria), El-Sayed Lashin (Egypt), Saheed Idowu (Congo Brazzaville), Segun Toriola (Nigeria), Idir Khourta (Algeria), Suraju Saka (Congo Brazzaville), Olouwachehoun Guiganfode (Benin), Mawussi Agbetoglo (Togo), Sofiène Boudjadja (Algeria), Adem Hamam (Tunisia), Fessou Lawson-Gaizer (Togo), Alain Patrick Jague Niken Jiotsa (Cameroon), Derek Abrefa (Ghana), Emmanuel Ngwe Nikeng (Cameroon)

    Women: Dina Meshref (Egypt), Nadeen El-Dawlatly (Egypt), Han Xing (Congo Brazzaville), Olufunke Oshonaike (Nigeria), Offiong Edem (Nigeria), Sara Hanffou (Cameroon), Islem Laid (Algeria), Lynda Loghraibi (Algeria), Zodwa Maphanga (South Africa), Amma Liobaka (Democratic Republic of Congo), Onyinyechi Nwachukwu (Congo Brazzaville), Cynthia Kwabi (Ghana), Harriet Ntumnyuy (Cameroon), Celia baah-Danso (Ghana), Isabel Albino (Angola).

  • Quadri slumps, Toriola leaps in latest ITTF world ranking

    Quadri slumps, Toriola leaps in latest ITTF world ranking

    Despite making it to the final of the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville, Aruna Quadri slumped in the October ranking of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) while ageing Segun Toriola is among the players that leaped in their rating.

    Quadri, who made his debut yesterday in the French League dropped from 43 to 45 but still maintains his status as top 50 in the world.

    With his performance at the African Games, Quadri garnered 2270 points in October from the 2262 points he amassed in September, Quadri still plays second fiddle to Egypt’s Omar Assar who is now ranked 35 in the world from the 36 placed he was rated in September.

    Having being removed from the ranking following his inactivity in the last six months, Toriola made a triumph return to the world ranking as the former African champion is now ranked 167 in the world.

    Toriola’s giant stride was made possible following his 3-1 victory over Egypt’s Omar Assar in the men’s team final of the African Games.

    Meanwhile, wins over China’s Zhang Jike in both the Men’s Team and Men’s Singles events at the recent Suzuki 2015 ITTF-Asian Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, sees Korea’s Jang Woojin make the most dramatic rise on the Men’s World Rankings.

    The 20 year-old moves from a previous best of no 41 to a new career high of no.24, on a list that sees the very top remain the same.

    China Ma Long remains at the pinnacle for 38th time in his career, being followed immediately by colleagues Xu Xin, Fan Zhendong and Zhang Jike.

    Winner of the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr 2015 ITTF-European Championships in Ekaterinburg, Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov retains his no.5 spot with Japan’s Jun Mizutani and Timo Boll, like Dimitrij Ovtcharov from Germany, once again the next in the order of merit.

    Immediately below Marcos Freitas climbs one place to no.8, changing positions with China’s Fang Fo; next on the list is Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan who changes places with Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus. Korea’s Jung Youngsik completes the top 12 moving two positions from his previous career high of no.14 one month ago.

    The upward trend for Jung Youngsik, it is the opposite for Japan’s Koki Niwa formerly at no.12, is now at no.14.

     

  • Gallant Toriola bows out in China

    Gallant Toriola bows out in China

    Everyone that watched the first round match between Nigeria’s Segun Toriola and Chinese’s Sheng-Sheng Huang was thrilled with the quality displayed by the former African champion.

    It was a match that ignited the second hall of Suzhou International Expo Centre and a must-watch for all as Toriola in his usual style came from 3-0 down to level at 3-3 before surrendering narrowly to the Taiwanese.

    Many had thought that the match will be a one-sided encounter considering the ranking of the Taiwanese who is at present rated 77 in the world while Toriola in the last six months has been take off the world ranking when he was in 180.

    Even the coach of his opponent was already packing his bag after the third game thinking that they would leave the hall so early.

    But a never-say-die Toriola came from the brink of defeat to surprise his opponent who started fidgeting to the extent of angrily removing the bandage around his leg.

    A lion-hearted Toriola played to his best and he was getting applauds from the spectators who had to abandon other matches to witness the comeback of the Nigerian.

    Even an Austrian coach who tutoring on the next table had to focus on Toriola’s match and he told NationSport that he was not surprise as Toriola is well known worldwide as a determined player whose performance has always attracted a lot of people in the world.

    Within 30 minutes, Toriola has leveled the match at 3-3 and this forced the Taiwanese coach to start shouting on his player.

    But the deciding game turned out to the best the worst for Toriola and to confirm the importance of the seventh, every point won by the Taiwanese was always followed with a big shout. But at the end he won at 4-3.

    From all his matches in the tournament, Toriola showed that he is still a force to reckon with in the world while his presence in the Nigerian team most times motivate the younger players.

    His experience and conduct as a dedicated player will surely be needed at the African Cup in Cameroun, All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville as well as the Commonwealth Championship in India late this year.