ITTF Championship 2023: Enoh showers encomiums on Team Nigeria

•salutes Quadri, Oshonaike, Bello for clinching gold medals

Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has congratulated Team Nigeria athletes for making the country proud at the 2023 Africa Senior Table Tennis Championships which was held in Tunis, Tunisia, from September 11 to 17, 2023.

Africa’s top-ranked player, Aruna Quadri won gold for Nigeria in the men’s singles after defeating familiar foe, Ahmed Saleh of Egypt by 4-0 (11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6) in the final match played in Tunis. The victory ensured Quadri retained his African title at the same venue where he lost the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ticket due to injury.

In the Women’s Doubles event, Nigeria’s duo of Funke Oshonaike and Fatimo Bello combined their experience and youthful energy to overpower Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou and Egypt’s Marwa Alhodaby 3-2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 7-11, 12-10), as the Nigerians clinched gold in the pulsating final.

“On the behalf of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all Nigerians, I heartily congratulate these incredible athletes for bringing glory to the country in far away Tunisia. Defeating all-comers on the continent, in a foreign soil takes resilience, hard work, strength, and discipline. While the path to success has not been easy, their sense of patriotism remained unwavering.

“The Ministry is committed to putting everything in place to ensure that athletes are adequately prepared for championships, with their welfare adequately sorted out too. We understand the need to put athletes in their best shape in and outside competition cycles, and the Ministry will keep working with sports federations to achieve this,” John Enoh added.

The minister also congratulated Olajide Omotayo and Idowu Saheed who both lost in the men’s singles semi finals, urging them to take pride in their outings and reflect on their performances.

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