Right hand attack Chinese table tennis player, Zhou Qihao has emerged champion of the WTT Contenders Lagos 2023 after dispatching German World No.14 Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the men’s singles final on Sunday at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall.
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The World No.35 landed his first Men’s Singles trophy on the WTT Series after clinching the title at WTT Contender Lagos 2023 with a 4-1 (11-7, 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7) upset over World No.14 Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
Defeating German opposition twice in the lead-up to the final, 26yr old Zhou calmly dispatched Benedikt Duda and Patrick Franziska earlier in the week and would add a third German player to the list in Sunday’s final.
“I am very happy to emerge winner of this championship, everybody works hard to achieve such a great result like this, it’s very hard to get here but to win in the end, is so surreal.”
“Chinese have a way of drawing the first blood wherever they go, this is what makes us not to be intimidated regardless of the opponent. For my German opponent, Nigerians cheered him on and applauded for him but I’m very lucky to win amidst all to get the result at the end of the day” – he stated of his motivation to beat the underdog tag.
“He is a very strong player and competitor but before this game, I have prepared hard and well enough to take whatever he will be pushing at me and I think I did that pretty well.”
On Nigeria’s weather having an effect on his performance – “The weather here is very difficult to live in but I adapted quite well, I had a dream and for me to achieve that, these are parts of the sacrifices I must make.”
