President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi, has said he is satisfied with the performance of their delegation to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
The team members achieved some good results at the Games. Aruna Quadri made it to the quarter-final of the men’s singles event, defeating two of the world’s top players along the way. He became the first African to feature in the last eight of the Olympics.
Oshodi stated that with more motivation, Nigeria tennis stars are capable of doing much more.
“I am quite pleased with the players. They have shown commitment and have strived to give their best. Everybody won a match and got into the main draw of the tournament and at this level that is not an easy task. They have all come together and supported each other even when support seemed to be lacking.
“With Aruna Quadri’s excellent performance in reaching the quarterfinal and Segun Toriola getting to the 2nd round, I must confess that I am quite elated and proud of this team. They have done the country proud. This is by far the best performance by a table tennis team outside Asia and Europe ever and must be celebrated.
“If you also look at the quality of players that we defeated then one must take his hat off to the players. It is a phenomenal performance taking all the circumstances of our preparation into consideration.”
Speaking further, Oshodi said: “This just goes to confirm what we know about our players. They have the talent and if you can combine that with hard work, commitment to your job, discipline and a lot of humility then you can get to the top of the world game.
“We have a lot of gifted players in Nigeria but what is lacking in many of them is the willpower to put in the work. Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri, Bode Abiodun, Edem Offiong and Funke Oshonaike continue to show the way and I hope many others will follow.”
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