NAN-S-2
T/Tennis
By Kemi Ajayi
Lagos, Nov. 21, 2016 (NAN) Unseeded Shola Oyetayo of Civil Defense has attributed his victory at the men’s single event final of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) National Championship to determination.
The championships held from Nov. 14 to Nov. 19 at the National Stadium, Lagos.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos, that he had lost hope after losing the first three sets, adding that determination kept him going.
“This is the best game I have played so far in table tennis because I thought I had lost the match after failing to win any of the first three sets.
“I maintained my focus and did what my coach told me to do which eventually gave me victory at the end,’’ he said.
NAN reports that Oyetayo dramatically defeated number-one seed, Jamiu Azeez of G20 club 4-3 (11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11, 4-11, 6-11) in the final.
Also, Cecilia Otu-Akpan of Cross River defeated Fatima Bello of Union Bank in the women’s singles event wining 4-1(6-11,11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 4-11).
Akpan, seeded No. 1, who was no match for her opponent, wasted no time to seal her victory against number three seeded Bello who struggled all through the game.
Akpan, after her victory, boasted that she went into the game with a winning mentality and did the needful to surmount her opponent.
“I’m far much better than my opponent in every area of the ping pong game and that was what I proved by winning her,’’ she said.
NAN reports that the winners in the men and women singles events received cash prizes of N200, 000 each, while the runners-up in both event received N100, 000.
The third position winners in both categories also got N50, 000 each. A total of 18 events were featured at the championships.
The total prize money for the competition was N2.8million. (NAN)
KOA/MJO/ENN
============
(Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Peter Ejiofor)