Right hand defense Nigeria table tennis player, Adeola Oloruntade has praised the performance of the country’s table tennis players in the ongoing WTT Contender Lagos 2023 despite the majority of the participants early exit as he admits that each player gave their best but it wasn’t just enough.
Picking up a hard fought victory against fellow countryman, Matthew Kuti in his opening game which stretched unto five sets (9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 13-11, 13-11), Adeola buzzing in confidence went into his second game against Jules Rolland as he lost all three sets to the 22 year old right hand attack French player with the defeat signifying his end in the championship.
“I have performed to my best but it’s not enough and that’s why I need to work harder for the next competition. So far, we haven’t really had that upset as the host country and we know how international tournaments can be to players in terms of world rankings but it’s not all lost since it’s a knockout, once you lose your first game, you are out but for those that are left, we are wishing them the best of luck.”
“Nigerians haven’t really gone far and hardly passed the first game hurdle but each one of us can say that we gave our very best despite the defeat and the players we lost to were worthy opponents. So now, we will have to make plans, strategize, prepare and plan well for upcoming tournaments for us to have a good outing as a country and as an individual.”
“We still have some players in the tournament, we will keep cheering them on till the very end.”
“The structure and standard of this tournament is indeed one of a kind, organization, welfare, free, fair and open to everyone to compete healthily and this is very commendable of the world governing body for tennis, kudos to them.”
