Just like it has been predicted, the Nigeria female team played their last game on Thursday in the table tennis event of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
The team’s last game was in the women’s doubles when the pair of Funke Oshonaike and Cecilia Otu-Akpan were beaten 3-0 by Malaysia’s duo of Lee Beh and Sock Ng.
Funke Oshonaike
In the singles, Edem Offiong, who had boasted that she would win gold, was bundled out by Joanna Drinkhall in the round of 64 (main draw).
The most disappointing aspect of the defeat was that the game ended in a 4-0 bashing of the African champion by the English lady.
Also, her compatriot, Otu-Akpan suffered same defeat in the hand of Singapore’s Taiwei Feng also in the main draw.
However, Ganiat Ogundele who also made it to the main draw after recording 100 percent in the preliminary round fought hard against India’s Shamini Kumaresan. Despite her efforts, she surrendered to the Indian lady in the seventh game to exit the competition at 4-3.
What would have been a consolation for the female team also disappeared into thin air, as the partnership between Oshonaike and Aruna Quadri in the mixed doubles was booted out by Singapore.
The team also failed to make it beyond the knockout stage in the team event, where the male counterparts clinched bronze.
A disappointed President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi, said he was not surprised with the result of the female team while promising that attention would now be given to the young players who will be nurtured to take over the team in future tournaments.
Since the inclusion of table tennis in the Commonwealth Games, the female team has not made any meaningful impact like their male counterparts.
