April 9, 2018

Nigeria’s table tennis team on Monday defeated England 3-2 in the men’s team semi-finals at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team will face India in the final.

Segun Toriola lost Nigeria’s first match 3-2 (14-12, 9-11, 7-11,13-11,7-11) to Paul Drinkhall, but in match 2, Bode Abiodun recovered from two sets down to beat Liam Pitchford 3-2 (8-11,9-11-4,13-11,11-5).

The pair of Olajide Omotayo and Segun Toriola beat the duo of Samuel Walker and Paul Drinkhall 3-1 (2-11, 11-7,12-10,11-7) in match 3.

Although Olajide Omotayo lost 3-2 (11-9, 4-11, 8-11, 11-9, 5-11) to Liam Pitchford in match 4, Bode Abiodun sealed Nigeria’s place in the final by beating Samuel Walker in match 5 with a nervy 3-2 (8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8) win.

The Nigerian had defeated host Australia 3-1 in the quarter-finals, as well as Belize 3-0 and Malaysia 3-1 in the group games.