Agunbiade, Olufemi raise Nigeria’s hope in para-table tennis
The pair of Tajudeen Agunbiade and Alabi Olufemi on Tuesday qualified for the semi-finals of the men’s team event of the table tennis competition at the 2020 Paralympics.
In the Class 9 to 10 quarter-final fixture at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, the Nigerian duo defeated the Montenegro pair of Luka Bakic and Filip Radovic 2-0.
They opened with a 3-2 win in the doubles, winning 8-11 11-6 1-11 11-8 11-8, before Agunbiade went on to beat Bakic 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-6) to make the Olufemi/Radovic face-off meaningless.
Nigeria will now take on Australia, who beat France 2-0, in the semi-finals scheduled for the same venue on Wednesday afternoon.
Team Nigeria had beaten the U.S 2-1 in the round of 16.
Agunbiade and Olufemi beat Tahl Leibovitz and Ian Seidenfeld 3-1 (7-11 11-7 11-9 11-4) in the doubles, while Agunbiade lost 0-3 (7-11 5-11 8-11) to Leibovitz in the opening singles.
Olufemi restored Nigeria’s lead to win the fixture with a 3-0 (11-9 11-8 11-7) defeat of Seidenfeld.
A win for the pair of Agunbiade and Olufemi on Wednesday will put them in the frame for either a gold or silver medal in the competition.
The 2020 Paralympic Games will end on Sunday.
NAN/Mercy Chukwudiebere
