12th AAG: Omotayo stuns Quadri to win table tennis men’s singles gold

Olajide Omotayo has emerged champion of the men’s singles event of the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco following a stunning victory over Aruna Quadri.

It was an all-Nigerian final in the men’s event at the ongoing championship, and unfavoured Omotayo conquered his compatriot and mentor to win gold.

The champion defeated three of the best players in Africa to be crowed the champion, having also seen off Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh in the quarter-finals and Segun Toriola in the semifinals.

Omotayo threw caution to the wind and raced to the lead with a 3-0 (13-11, 11-9, 16-14) but experienced Quadri cut the lead to 3-2 with 8-11, 13-15 wins in the fourth and fifth games.

The sixth match was a display of energy and skills and it was the younger Omotayo that scaled through with 12-10 win to claim the second gold medal for Nigeria in the table tennis event of the multi-sports fiesta.

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“I am so proud of myself because this is a big one for my career and it was a good journey for me from the start of this competition having won against some of the best players in the continent,” said an elated Omotayo, who has been beaten by Quadri on two previous occasions.

In the women’s singles category, Egypt’s Dina Meshref retained her title to become the first female Egyptian to win the title back-to-back.

To beat Cameroun’s Sarah Hanffou, who had earlier edged out Nigeria’s Edem Offiong in semifinal, Meshref took charge from the start and controlled the match to end at 11-7, 11-4, 11-2, 11-7 to the admiration of the Egyptian fans.

A satisfied Meshref said she was happy becoming the first female Egyptian to set a new feat in table tennis.

“I am so happy becoming the first female Egyptian to win the women singles title back-to-back for the first time. But I must admit that it was not easy at all because the four years difference between the two titles was very long for me to be able to keep up with my performance. I am so excited that I was able to retain the title again,” Meshref said.

Olajide Omotayo and Dina Meshref

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