Following their withdrawal from the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games’ table tennis competition, Christiana Alabi, Abiola Adesope, and Kayode Alabi, Team Nigeria’s best chance of winning a medal now lies with Isau Ogunkunle taking on Frenchman Maxime Thomas in the men’s Class 4 quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Due to their persistent struggles in the Paris event, three Nigerian athletes withdrew from the medal chase on Tuesday.
When Abiola Adesope faced Lucas Didier of France in the men’s singles class 9 round of 16, the Frenchman defeated him 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-6) in a straight set.
Christiana Alabi fought very hard, particularly in the last two sets of her match, but lost to her Chilean opponent Tamara Leonelli by 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 10-12, 12-10) in the round of 16 as well.
Alabi’s husband, Kayode Alabi, also bowed out after losing his quarter-final match against Thailand’s Rungroj Thainiyom in class 6.
The Asian player was too good for the Nigerian, winning the match 3-0 (7-11, 1-11, 6-11).
Nigeria’s campaign had started badly last week, with early exits in the mixed doubles.
So far, Nigeria’s only medal at the Games has been won by para-badminton player Eniola Bolaji, who claimed bronze on Monday.
She made history as the first African athlete to win a medal in para-badminton. She achieved the feat in the Women’s Singles SL3 category, defeating her Ukrainian opponent, Oksana Kozyna, in straight sets 2-0 (21-9, 21-9) to win Nigeria’s first Paralympics medal in Paris.
