Nigeria’s men’s table tennis players, Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo, have both been knocked out in the first round of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Aruna, who reached the quarterfinals in Rio 2016, lost to 20-year-old Eduard Ionescu of Romania. Despite taking an early 3-0 lead in the match, Aruna was unable to maintain his momentum and eventually lost 3-4.
Ionescu, playing in his first Olympics, staged a comeback by winning four consecutive games (11-8, 12-10, 11-9, 13-11), advancing to the next round.
Omotayo faced Noshad Alamiyan of Iran and was defeated 1-4. Omotayo won the first game 11-6 but then struggled as Alamiyan took the next three games (5-11, 4-11, 10-12). Despite a brief rally in the fourth game, Omotayo could not recover and lost the final game 8-11.
These defeats on Saturday night ended Nigeria’s participation in the men’s table tennis singles event at the Paris Olympics.
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