Newly crowned ITTF African Cup champion, Quadri Aruna, Olajide Omotayo, Edem Offiong and Fatima Bello have qualified for the table tennis event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Aruna qualified automatically as the African champion while the three other Nigerians secured their tickets at the African Qualifiers for the Olympics over the weekend.
Offiong was the first Nigerian to secure her Paris ticket in the qualifiers on Friday after pulsating 4-2 victory over Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci.
The 37-year-old is now set to make her fifth Olympics appearance, with her maiden appearance dating back to 2004.
Also on Friday, Omotayo sealed his spot in Paris with a commanding 4-0 triumph over Congo-Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu.
With one ticket left for grabs in the women’s singles, Bello was paired against Algeria’s Lynda Loughrabi in her hunt for a first Olympics ticket.
Bello, a women’s doubles gold medallist at the 2023 ITTF African Championship, claimed the first three sets but dropped the next two before claiming the 4-2 victory (11-5, 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 9-11, 11-9).
Aruna’s individual feat and the successful qualification of three players sum up Nigeria’s dominance in table tennis on the continent.
The African Qualifiers for the Olympics brings an end to two weeks of intensed table tennis action at the BK Arena in Rwanda which started with the ITTF African Cup.
