By Francis Ajuonuma
One of Nigeria’s upcoming table tennis stars, Oribamise says she was left frustrated after bowing out in round 32 of the women’s singles in the ongoing World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Lagos taking place at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Multi-purpose Indoor Sports Hall Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere Lagos.
Oribamise, who was granted a wildcard in the women’s singles was overwhelmingly beaten 3-0 by Kim Nayeong of Korea to exit the tournament and ended Nigeria’s hope of winning laurels in the tournament singles.
Speaking at her post match interview, Oribamise said she would have loved to go far in the tournament but could not achieve that because she played against a better opponent.
She however said she is happy featuring in the tournament which she believes has given her more exposure.
“I just lost in the round of 32 of the WTT Contender Lagos. It’s so unfortunate, although I am quite satisfied with my performance but despite the fact that I lost, I am actually happy that at least I was able to gain some experience.
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“There are a lot of lessons learnt and I believe with what I saw in this tournament, I will be able to improve myself, my performance and my ability in the following tournaments,” she said.
Meanwhile, all the Nigerian players have exited from the singles of the tournament which enters round 16 on Friday (today).
Nigeria’s highest ranked in the women’s singles, Fatimo Bello kissed the tournament bye after loosing 3-0 to Lee Eunhye of Korea on Thurdsday (yesterday).
Following Fatimo to the exit doors in the women’s singles, were Ajoke Ojomu and Effiong Edem. Ojomu lost 3-0 to Sibel Altinkaya of Turkey, while Edem was also beaten 3-0 by Li Yake of China.
Nigeria’s hope in the men’s singles was also dashed on Thursday (yesterday) as Taiwo Mati and Olajide Omotayo all lost their round 32 me ‘s singles games. Mati ranked 75 in the world was beaten by Patrick Franziska of Germany 3-0, while Omotayo lost to Manav Vikash Thakkar of India 3-1.
The round of 16 matches in the singles and the doubles continue today at the same venue.
