The Nigerian duo of Edem Offiong and Olajide Omotayo have secured tickets to represent the country at the table tennis event of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The Nigerians achieved the feat on Friday after defeating their respective opponents in the ITTF Africa Olympics qualifiers semi-final in Kigali, Rwanda.
In the men’s singles event, Omotayo defeated Congo-Brazaville’s Saheed Idowu in four straight sets to book his second appearance at the Olympics.
He featured at the Tokyo Olympics but lost 4-0 to Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia in the first round of the men’s singles event.
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Olajide Omotayo has a ticket to Paris, it would be his 2nd appearance at the @Olympics.
The Nigerian was dominant in a 4-0 win over Congo-Brazzaville Saheed Idowu in the semis. #RoadToParis2024 pic.twitter.com/7zllqtkwjh
— ITTF-Africa (@ITTFAfrica) May 17, 2024
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Offiong defeated Gracie Fadwa of Tunisia 4-2 in the women’s singles to earn her fifth appearance at the Olympic games.
The 37-year-old made her Olympic debut in Athens in 2004 and never failed to qualify ever since.
At the last Olympics, the Calabar-born player progressed to the second round, where Zhang Lily of the US humbled her in a match that lasted just 40 minutes.
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Meanwhile, Fatimo Bello lost to Cameroon’s Hanffoy Sarah 4-2 in the women’s singles. The Cameroonian earned the Olympic ticket, and Bello would have to face Gracie Fadwa for the final automatic berth on Saturday.
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