Abdulfatai Abdulbasit, contender at the ongoing WTT Contender Lagos 2023 championship has played down inferiority complex claims as reason for Nigeria table tennis players’ poor showdown stating that the participants are just so unlucky having given a good fight without favorable results.
Abdulbasit who won his opening men’s singles – qualifying round 1 game against Jamiu Ayanwale at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall with a resounding victory in three sets (10-12, 5-11, 6-11) lost all three set in the qualifying round second game (12-14, 8-11, 6-11) against Hugo Deschamps who is currently ranked #143 in senior world ranking.
“I am very sad, I’m not happy at all, I ought to win this game as it was an open game for any of us to win but I let it slip, I’m not satisfied with my performance, I could have done more but one thing I know is that, I will come back stronger.”
“Going forward, the plan is to get ready for the next tournament, I want to have a better showdown that even if it ends in defeat, I will hold my heads up high and cheer on that I gave my best. That which you saw out there is far from my best, now it’s work time.”
“It’s not that Nigerians are inferior from the Europe based participants because you can see clearly that foreigners have dominated so far but tennis is a game that comes with defeats and victory irrespective of where you come from. One thing is certain, Nigeria will have a foothold in upcoming games, we will give a worthy account of ourselves,” he promised.
“One notable assessment I want to make is about the court, the table, the officials, the referees and the team. They have put so much in organizing this tournament which is very laudable, it’s a job well done from them. Good atmosphere, security, the welfare of every participant from different parts of the world has been top-notch, great job indeed.”
