Nigeria veteran tennis player, Funke Oshonaike has narrated her ordeals while going up amidst a turbulent relationship with people who misunderstood her, her escapades with men as she makes her rise to stardom.
The professional table tennis player who works and live in Germany has been representing Nigeria since 14 having won so many medals for the country although her professional carrier started in Italy 1994, before the eventual move to Germany 1998.
In an exclusive interview on the Family United by Sports, FUBS social media platform, Oshonaike narrated: “I was always being booed while playing competitions then back home in Nigeria!! Spectators never liked me! They said I was not a good mixer, they called me proud and a snob! All bcos I was very shy back then! Oh how I cried!! I was only a teenager just growing koko!! So anytime I was playing with my opponent then, I never wanted to loose because loosing was like loosing to everybody! I always cried a lot anytime I lost any match! It was tough but it made me stronger.”
“I started Table Tennis on a soak away pit, then move to a small table like dining table built by my brother ( we don’t have dining table then because we were living in a room with 10 children) . From there I move to playing on a big table that a guy on my street was renting out. I was so popular on the street of Somolu then.l, from there I was discovered and was taken to Rowe park sport center where coach Malawi ( sunbo Oladele ) took care of the rest.”
“I represented my primary school ( community primary school in Somolu )and secondary school too( Igbobi girls high school) with my first primary school competition coming way back when I was in primary 6. I was caned for going because I sneaked out of school to play it. Even though I won it , I was beaten in front of my dad for not letting the teacher know before going for it,” she recalled.
On her relationship with men, she explained: I prefer European men black/white because they will understand me better than a typical Nigerian man but I’m not interested in both for now, I’m not intrested in men for now !!! All men!!,” she emphasized
“Yes I was physically and sexually abused but I’m a survivor, I’m blessed to be alive today so I have no iota of guilt whatsoever in me. I’ve gone through a lot with men and loving myself now is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m in love with myself and I,” she affirmatively revealed.
“I hate the word rape, I’ve been talking to girls that spoke to me about it. I can see lots of changes in them. But I can’t help the ones that doesn’t open up as gender equality is very hard in Nigeria.”
She however admitted to quit from international table tennis after the Olympics which was earlier halted due to the Coronavirus pandenmic as she step up her efforts in helping talented kids in Nigeria through her Funke Oshonaike foundation.
