Nigeria’s trio of Segun Toriola, Bode Abiodun and Olajide Omotayo were in scintillating form on Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games taking place in Gold Coast, Australia, as they had to battle past the host country to make it into the men’s team Table Tennis semi-finals.
Toriola, who was playing in his first game of the competition, replaced Jamiu Azeez in the line-up as the seven-time Olympian brought his wealth of experience to help Team Nigeria win 3-1. Nigeria will now face England in the semis.
In the Weightlifting event, Micheal Anyalewechi came within whiskers of getting a medal round his neck in the final of the men’s 85kg category. Anyalewechi, who was still in contention for a medal after doing well in the Snatch category, copped an injury in his second attempt in the Clean and Jerk category and had to settle for 5th place, lifting a total of 324kg.
Meanwhile, Sikiru Ojo, who was the only boxer to step into the ring for Nigeria on the day lost to Ghana’s Samuel Addo who won by a 4-1 decision. The fight, however, was a close one, going by how the judges awarded the points as they scored it, 29-27, 28-28, 28-28, 29-25 and 28-27 in favour of the Ghanaian.
Also, Nigeria’s Basketball team, D’Tigers, lost their second consecutive match to Canada 82-67 in the Men’s Preliminary Round Pool A. Captain of the team, Ike Diogu, was the highest scoring player on the day as he finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds. The team will now play against the host, Australia, in their final group game.
