In the ongoing team competition at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Nigerian men’s table tennis team has advanced to the semifinals.
The team, under the direction of Quadri Aruna, had a successful opening weekend when they defeated Ghana and South Africa.
In their third match on Sunday, they went on to defeat Malaysia 3-2 in the doubles and singles to advance to the semifinals.
Bode Abiodun and Olajide Omotayo were defeated 3-1 by Javen Choong and Qi Shen in the opening doubles round of the match (6-11, 12-10, 12 -10,11-7).
Then, Aruna helped Nigeria get back on track by defeating Chee Feng Leong in the first singles match 3-1 (9 -11,11 – 6,5 -11, 5-11).
Malaysia went 2-1 ahead thanks to Qi Shen Wong who thrashed Bode Biodun 3-0 (12 -10, 14 -12, 11-5).
The Nigerian team leveled up again through Omotayo with a 3-1 win ( 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 6-11) over Chee Feng Leong in the third singles.
And in the decider, Aruna overcame Javen Choong 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11) to help Nigeria into the semis.
The Nigerian team, who are now guaranteed a medal for reaching the semi-finals, will meet India in the semi-final on Monday.
