Olajide Omotayo, 22, could not hide his joy for being part of the silver medal-winning table tennis team at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Omotayo, who represented Nigeria at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Morocco, Monday, said that he could not hide his excitement over the silver medal win.
“I am so happy that I am part of this great team. I have indeed learnt a lot from the top players and playing against some of the best players in the world has indeed boosted my confidence and I hope that this will help me the more in major competitions,” he said.
The Italy-based star described his experience at the Gold Coast event as worthwhile. “I am here to learn, particularly from the senior players. This is my first Commonwealth Games and with this experience, I now have the idea of competing on a big stage like this. I will cherish this moment for a very long time,” he added.
India’s Sathiyan GNANASEKARAN, who put India up 2-0 by beating Segun TORIOLA 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 in the singles, before teaming up with Harmeet DESAI to finish the job in the doubles 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 added: “In the first game I was ahead 10-6, and I thought I’d won the game; I lost focus; I made easy mistakes; but I felt confident, I felt I was playing well. After losing the first game I said to myself start again from love-all.
My legs were fast and I was quick to attack. He needed time to play his strokes, so I tried to give him no time.
The doubles was perfect with Harmeet, we were strong from the very first point and we were able to win this amazing gold medal, which was our goal coming into these games.”
Nigeria may not have been a match for India in the final, but they will forever go down in Commonwealth Games folk law, as they produced one of the most amazing upsets in the semi-finals. Nigeria, without their top player Quadri ARUNA, who also missed the final due to sickness but hopes to be back for the singles event, battled against the odds to beat England 3-2, who are the favourites for the Gold in one of the most dramatic matches ever seen.
A visibly disappointed England bounced back strongly against Singapore in the bronze medal play-off. The 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships bronze medallists, added another bronze to their collection, by defeating Singapore 3-0 to match their women’s team performance yesterday.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
