African champion, Omar Assar and Nigeria’s Cecilia Otu-Akpan on Saturday emerged winners of the men and women singles event of the maiden Lagos International Table Tennis Classics. Assar overcame Nigerian number one seed Segun Toriola 11-9, 11-4, 13-15, 6-11, 11-4, 11-9 in an explosive game played at the indoor sports hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere. After losing the first two sets, Toriola, backed by the home fans, won the third and fourth sets but Assar proved too strong afterwards, winning the last two sets. “I wanted to win the title for the country and the fans but things just went the other way. It was exciting making it to the final and I want to thank the fans for their support for all the players and I hope to see more of this being staged in Nigeria,” Toriola said. Assar said he was happy to emerge the first champion of the event adding that he was looking forward to playing Toriola again. He said, “I am so excited coming to Nigeria to win the title. I enjoyed my stay in Nigeria and I hope to come back next year and meet Toriola in the final.” In the women’s final, Otu-Akpan saw off compatriot, Edem Offiong 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 in another exciting final that had fans on their toes throughout the game. It was an all Nigeria affair in the final of the girls and boys singles events as Esther Oribamise beat Alimot Ayinla 11-9, 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 to emerge champion while Olajide Omotayo overcame Azeez Ogunlade 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 18-16, 11-6. posted on September 01, 2013 at 12:42AM jtnng.blogspot/
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:29:40 +0000