Nigeria in Tokyo 2020: Day 3 Review
Post created on July 27, 2021
The third day for Nigeria in Tokyo had some positive news as two of the country’s representatives got inducted in an elite Olympic club.
Segun Toriola and Funke Oshonaike entered into history book( Club 7) as rare athletes to have competed seven times at the Olympics.
Although the exclusive club was dominated by men, Funke Oshonaike becomes the first Nigerian as well as the first African and indeed the first woman in the world to compete at seven Olympic Games.
Out of the six awardees, Team Nigeria stood elegantly with a male and a female, an achievement only Nigeria has recorded.
In the events of the day for Team Nigeria in Tokyo, Offiong Edem bowed out in table tennis as Elizabeth Anyanacho was defeated in Taekwando following the capitulation of the badminton team.
In table tennis, Offiong could not build on the brilliant display she exhibited against Hungary’s Dora Madarasz in the first round of the women’s singles.
Zhang Lily of the US was too much for the Calabar-born 34-year-old who slumped into defeat after picking the first set (15-13).
The subsequent sets (11-2, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6) went fast as the Chinese-American wrapped the match in less than 40 minutes.
In Taekwando, Elizabeth Anyanacho, Nigeria’s sole representative, lost out to Turkey’s Nur Tartar, a double Olympic medalist and former world champion, in the women’s 67kg event.
Although the 22-year-old gave an audacious performance that bellies her nascent experience, she was defeated 12-7 by the more weathered Turkish.
Anyanacho, ranked 13th in her weight category, will now wait to see if Tartar makes it to the final to be eligible to fight for a bronze medal.
In badminton, the duo of Godwin Olofua and Anuoluwapo Opeyori failed to bounce back from their opening game loss to the Japanese team as they succumbed to another 2-0 defeat against Denmark’s Astrup Kim and Rasmussen Skaarup in their second group game.
In the women’s singles, Adesokan Dorcas also lost 2-0 to Spain’s Azurmendi Clara in her opening game of the group stage.
