The duo of Funke Oshonaike and Fatimo Bello won gold in the women’s doubles event at the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African championship.
The ladies defeated Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou and Egypt’s Marwa Alhodaby 3-2 in a topsy-turvy final, which took place on Saturday in Tunis, Tunisia.
The match was the most difficult for Oshonaike, 47, and Bello in their run to the title after thrashing the Mauritius duo of Oumehani Hosenally and Nandeshwaree Jalim in three straight sets in the semi-final.
The performance was far from slick in the final. Although Oshonaike and Bello took the first set 11-6, Hanffou and Alhodaby fought back in the second set to win 11-6.
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Oshonaike and Bello regained the lead with a one-sided third set, which ended 11-4, but their opposition punched back in the following round with an 11-7 victory, sending the match to the edge.
A gritty display in the fifth set saw Oshonaike and Bello ground out a 12-10 victory to claim Nigeria’s first gold at the championship.
Earlier, Egypt had edged Nigeria for the men’s and women’s team gold medals and automatic tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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The Egyptian duo of Omar Assar also defeated Oshonaike and Olajide Omotayo for the mixed doubles title.
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