By Francis Ajuonuma
The multi-purpose Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere Lagos will come under heavy firepower today as hostilities in the main draws of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Lagos 2023 serve off with a total of 64 players (32 each in the men and women’s singles) battling for the top prize.
The race for who emerges champion in the different events – men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles actually heats up from this stage of the tournament featuring the real title contenders, who have been separated from the boys sent out in the preliminary round.
Five Nigerian players, Taiwo Mati, Olajide Omotayo, Offiong Edem, Esther Oribamise, and Ajoke Ojomu made it to the main draw singles, courtesy of a wildcard, while the sixth Nigerian – Fatimo Bello is seeded among the world top-ranked female players in the tournament.
For sure Nigerian players will have their hands full as they face some of the best players in the world with a lot expected from them to deliver the needed results.
In the men’s singles, Nigeria’s ping pong prodigy, Mati, ranked 75 by the ITTF will have to be at his best when he takes on 17th-ranked Patrick Franziska of Germany. The German looks favourite to progress but Mati has been promising in recent tournaments and could create an upset against the German, especially playing in front of the Lagos fans, who are going to give him the massive support that could fire him to victory.
The second Nigerian in the men’s singles, Omotayo is also not going to find his game with India’s Manav Vikash Thakkar easy. Thakkar displayed great quality in the qualifying games where he won all his two matches against Godwin Alabi of Ghana and Korea’s Park Ganghyeon 3-0 and 3-2 respectively.
In the women’s singles, Fatimo Bello, highest-ranked Nigerian female player in the tournament may be carrying the hope of Nigerians in the tournament as she is favoured to record victory over her opponent, Lee Eunhye of Korea, ranked 93. Fatimo Bello will be inspired by the loud support from the crowd who will be rooting for her all through the game as she aims to progress into the round of 16.
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Also, Oribamise will take on Kim Nayeong of Korea as she seeks a place in the round of 16, while Ojomu and Offiong Edem will battle against Sibel Altinkaya of Turkey and Li Yake of China respectively. Offiong Edem, from the look of things in the preliminary, won’t find her game against Yake easy at all because the Chinese woman was very outstanding in the qualifying rounds winning all her three matches overwhelmingly against Ghana’s Cynthia Kwabi, Sarah De Nutte of Luxembourg and Filippa Bergang of Sweden to send a warning signal to her opponents.
All the matches of the round of 32 in the singles will be decided on Thursday, as well as the doubles round of 16.
