As the first Lagos International Table Tennis Classics enters day five, Nigeria’s duo of Segun Toriola and Edem Offiong will clash against Congo Brazzaville’s pair of Saka Suraju and Han Xing in the final of the mixed doubles event scheduled for Friday.
Toriola and Offiong were seeded number three in the event, the Suraju and Xingt were rated number two in the event while the number one seed, Egypt’s Omar Assar and Nigeria’s Funke Oshonaike have been bundled out in the first round by Nigeria’s duo of Seun Ajetunmobi and Olaide Atinuke.
From the first round, Toriola and Offiong were in superb form beating their compatriot, Aruna Quadri and Ganiyat Olatunde 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in the semifinal clash on Wednesday. Quadri and Olatunde had thrown out giant killing duo of Ajetunmobi and Atinuke in the quarter-final before setting up a semifinal clash against Toriola and Offiong.
Also, Congo Brazzaville’s Suraju and Xing never dropped a match from the first round until their semifinal stage against Nigeria’s duo of Kazeem Makanjuola and Ganiyat Ogundele.
With huge support from the home fans, Makanjuola and Ogundele gave their best against the Congolese but their efforts could not match up with the Congolese, who thumbed them 10-12, 12-10, 14-16, 9-11 to berth in the final.
Speaking ahead of the mixed doubles final, Congo Brazzaville’s Suraju said they are in Lagos to sweep all the titles at stake in the tournament.
“Being a Nigerian myself, I want to admit that it has been a long time that competition of this status was staged in the Nigeria. For me, it is a plus to the country. But now I am representing Congo Brazzaville, we are not here to watch others but for others to watch us to winning all the titles. There is no doubt that the organizers tried their best to put up a good show but there is room for improvement in subsequent competitions. The lighting is not too good but the facilities are okay,” he said.
Suraju, who defeated Nigeria’s Lanre Aremu in the men’s singles round of 16, said he was confident that he would make the podium at the end of the tournament.
“I want to say that all the players taking part in the tournament are in good shape and everybody has chance to make it to the podium. I am really impressed with the Nigeria local-based players because they played very well. For me, I am here for the title and I fear nobody because I know I am capable of achieving the feat of being the first player to win the tournament,” Suraju added.
Also today, the final of the junior mixed doubles hold today (Friday) as well as Nigerian players dominated the event.
The pair of Azeez Ogunlade and Ayo Udoh will face the duo of Bolaji Shobayo and Bose Odusanya for the coveted title in the event.
