Despite the pedigree of Congo Brazzaville’s Saka Suraju, Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo proved bookmakers wrong after edging out Suraju in the round of 16 match of the men’s singles at the International Table
Tennis Federation (ITTF) Lagos World Tour.
In all the matches played on Wednesday, top seeds like Egypt’s duo of Omar Assar and El-Sayed Lashin as well as Nigeria’s pair of Segun Toriola and Aruna Quadri had easy passage to the quarterfinal stage.
But it was the end of the road for Saka, a semifinalist at the 2013 Lagos Classics when the young Nigerian dazed him.
From the beginning of the encounter, Onaolapo knew what was at stake if the match ended in his favour and he put everything right to bundle out Suraju who was rattled by the mesmerizing style of the Nigerian.
To the excitement of the spectators at the venue, Onaolapo finished the match at 4-1 to set up a quarterfinal clash against the tournament number two seed, Egypt’s Lashin in the quarterfinal match.
An elated Onaolapo told journalists after the victory that he was sure that he would overcome the Nigeria-born Congolese.
“I had not played against him before but I had taken my time to watch his matches and I discovered that he was a defensive player and I had to be attacking him. This really helped me a lot, while he also found it difficult to return my service. I’m happy and I’m aware of the challenges ahead of me as I face Egypt’s Lashin in the round of eight,” Onaolapo said.
Meanwhile, former African champion, Egypt’s Lashin has commended the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) for the quality of organization, saying, he was impressed with the atmosphere.
