Suraju sets tall dream for Rio

Saka Suraju of Congo Brazzaville, one of the aging players in Africa, is hoping to make it to the last 32 at the Rio Olympics.
He is the first table tennis athlete from the Central African nation to feature at the Olympic Games when he made his debut in Beijing in 2008 alongside Chinese-born Yang Fen.
Suraju will return to the stage Rio after making it through the African Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Sudan early this year.
To prepare for Rio, he and teammates – Wang Jianan and Han Xing – are currently honing their skills at the ultra-modern Kintele Stadium in Brazzaville under their Chinese coaches.
A confident Suraju, who recently turned 40, will be making his third appearance at the Olympic Games, after Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and believes he would make an impact in Brazil.
“I am happy making it to my third Olympic Games but I must admit that it was not an easy ride to Brazil.
“After failing to qualify at the 2015 African Games, I had to fight for one of the two slots at the African Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Sudan.
“I was a bit nervous during the competition because some of the younger players were keen to be in Brazil. But despite my lack of preparation for the tournament, my experience and knowledge of the sport came to the fore and I made it,” he said.
Prior to the camping in Brazzaville, Suraju was in Lagos for the 2014 Premier Lotto Nigeria Open but he met his waterloo in the men’s singles round of 16 against Egypt’s Khalid Assar.
“I think my coming to Lagos was part of my preparation for the Olympic Games. I wanted to assess myself against other top players.
“Apart from this, playing in Lagos has been unique because of the support of the fans which I think is the best we have ever had in Africa.
“Lagos fans are just unique because their support is another motivation for the players. They support any player regardless of his or her country and what they enjoy is a good game.
“Even if a Nigerian is not playing well, they are willing to continue to support [the foreign] player and this alone is an inspiration to the player. I was not really disappointed with my performance but I just needed to work harder for the Olympic Games.”
However, Suraju wound not want to remember his misfortune at previous Olympic Games as his target is to make it to the last 32 of the men’s singles in Rio.