Nigeria’s table tennis men’s team came back from the brink to record an important 3-2 win over Malaysia in the quarterfinal to set up a semifinal clash against defending champions India today at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Malaysians drew the first blood in the doubles event when the partnership of Javen Choong and Qi Shen Wong defeated the Nigeria’s duo of Olajide Omotayo and Bode Abiodun 3-1 (6-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-7) to give the Asian team a 1-0 lead.
Quadri Aruna was set up against Malaysia’s top seed Chee Feng Leong and the two players entertained the fans with their shots and strokes but Aruna prevailed 3-1 (11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5) to make it 1-1 major for Nigeria.
But the Malaysians took another lead when Wong beat Abiodun 3-0 (12-10, 14-12, 11-5) while Omotayo then put the match at par when he defeated Leong 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6) to set up a deciding clash between Aruna and Choong.
From the start of the match,
The Malaysian had the edge over Aruna after winning the first game at 11-7 and was leading 7-3 in the second game before Aruna crawled to win the game at 11-8. From then on, it was Aruna all the way as he won the next two games at 11- 5, 11-9 to hand Nigeria a semifinal ticket.
“I really enjoyed every bit of the match because my senior teammates really showed their quality when it mattered most,” debutant Amadi Omeh who is a member of the Nigerian team, said.“I learnt a lot from watching the match and this again has boosted my confidence as a member of this team.
“I believe we can still go far as it is obvious that we will be facing India in tomorrow’s (today) semifinal.”
