12-year-old Animashaun Thrills Fans at Lagos Open
The Nigerian lower house has offered to help chase Stephen Keshi out of the country as there is still no clear resolution over the a new contract for the coach.
Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Ali Gaiya, made the sweeping remark during the sports ministry’s budget defence.
“I have heard sweeping comments from your president and the man you say you intend to employ, Keshi, and both men have been on each other’s neck. I have tapes of their comments and this is very shameful,” said Gaiya.
“I have it on good authority what you the NFF want, but it seems you don’t have the guts to tell Keshi.
“We have seen the pains that Nigerians have gone through in the last days of Keshi on the job. Is it that you want us to continue in prayers when the Super Eagles file out for any game?
“Recently we have resorted to praying for Keshi to get another job so that you the NFF can be bold to take a decision.
“If you people don’t have the boldness to tell Keshi to go, we are ready to help you. We will call a meeting for both you the NFF and Keshi and tell Keshi that he should go,” declared Gaiya. He was never considered a threat to most of his opponents in the U-21 men’s singles, but 12- year-old Abayomi Animashaun stole the show at the ongoing International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour, Lagos Open as he was hailed for his exceptional performance against Nigeria’s national junior star, Joseph Osendukwu.
From his group, Animashaun was pitted against compatriots – Tobi Falana, Osendukwu and Egypt’s Sayed Ramadan, but he never showed any sign of conceding defeat in all his matches.
Against Tobi Falana, he displayed exceptional skills and his style of play thrilled the fans who quickly accepted him as their own.
Despite losing two games at 11-5, 11-6, the never-say-die teenager, rallied back to win the next two games at 7-11, 9-11 to the applause of the fans.
But in the deciding match, Animashaum put up spirited efforts but his better experienced opponent knew how to stop the Nigerian lad as the match ended 11-9 in favour of Falana.
As if he was never deterred by his first defeat in his maiden senior international appearance, the 2014 ITTF Hope Champion endeared himself to the hearts of the Lagos fans again when he matched Egypt’s Ramadan in a four-game thriller.
Animashaun had to resort to jumping on the table to win points against the senior Egyptian. Even when it was obvious that the Nigerian was gaining more support, the North African had to raise his game.
Just like it happened in his first match, Animashaun lost the first two games at 11-6, 11-8. But the third game was exciting as he rattled his opponent to win at 10-12. Aware of what might befall him, if he allows the Nigerian to claim the fourth game, the pep talk from the Egyptian coach and some forced errors from Animashaun salvaged the game for the North African as he won 12-10.
Even when he had lost the first two matches, the excited national cadet champion said: “I am really enjoying myself even though I lost but I am happy with my performance. I noticed that my opponents were not better than me.”
However, a consolation came the way of Animashaun in his third match against national junior star, Joseph Osendukwu. The match was fixed on centre table and this afforded the teenager to dazzle the fans with his exciting style of play. He was not deterred by his height on table and he fought for every point in the encounter. Within some minutes, Osendukwu had won the first two games at 11-9, 13-11. But in his usual style, he fought back again to win the next three games at 11-13, 12-14, 8-11 to the admiration of the fans. This ensured that Animashaun won his first senior international competition.
An elated Animashaun said:“This is my first senior tournament and I am so excited playing against the senior players. I was beaming with a lot of confidence in all my matches and the applauses from the fans really motivated me. I am happy that I was able to win a match in this tournament and I hope I will have more opportunity to take part in top class competition like this.”
On his victory against Osendukwu, he said:“I knew I was going to win because when he was leading 2-0, my coach told me to play to his forehand which I did. This gave me a lot of confidence to continue the game which ended at 3-2 in my favour. I am so happy playing in this competition and I will cherish this moment for a very long time.”
“Aruna Quadri is my idol because he has a good forehand and I want to emulate him by working on my forehand as this is my strength. I hope I can step into the shoe of Quadri with what he has been able to achieve for Nigeria and Africa. He is such a good player that we love because of his humility and discipline on and off the table,”the teenager admitted.