Nigerian table tennis stars, Olajide Omotayo and Kuti Matthew, have advanced to the final of the ITTF Africa Championship.
The duo secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Egypt’s Ghallab Aly and Helmy Mahmoud in the men’s doubles semi-final.
In the final, Omotayo and Matthew will face fellow Nigerians Muizz Adegoke and AbdulBasit Abdulfatai on Saturday.
This comes as a consolation for Nigeria after missing out on the mixed doubles and women’s doubles titles earlier in the tournament.
Nigeria also fell short in the men’s and women’s singles events, with no Nigerian players advancing to the finals in either category.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s top-ranked player, Aruna Quadri, withdrew from the championship due to injury, further hampering the country’s hopes in the men’s singles.
Quadri Aruna. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
In Quadri’s absence, Egypt has dominated the semi-finals, with Omar Assar set to face Helmy Mahmoud, while Ethiopia’s Dufera Darara Mokonen will take on Egypt’s Abdel-Aziz Youssef.
