Oshonaike knocked out of NSF
Veteran Table Tennis queen Funke Oshonaike suffered yet another loss at the ongoing National Sports Festival in Abuja, as she was yesterday evening knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Women’s tennis single by 19-year-old Nimota Aregbesola.
The quarter-final game, saw Aregbesola, who is representing Lagos State defeating Oshonaike 4-3 (11-9, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3, 10-12, 14-12).
The defeat came just a day after the former African champions Funke Oshonaike and Segun Toriola who are representing Akwa Ibom were knocked out in the mixed doubles quarter-final by Team Oyo which had the duo of Ajala Fumilola and 56-year-old Taofeeq Maya.
Aregbesola, who was overjoyed at the feat, couldn’t believe she had beaten one of the best tennis players in Nigeria. She said she was aiming for the gold medal.
“I couldn’t believe I will beat Funke. I was confident at the beginning but I lost hope as the game progressed. I just listened to my coach and teammates cheering me on to pull my last point. She opined.
“This is my first participation at the NSF, and I am aiming The Korean Cultural Center in Nigeria (KCCN) has graduated 66 kids into their next ranks in Taekwondo at the end of this semester.
Dada Nathaniel and Mikail Widungraha received the Excellence Award in the Under 8 beginners and Under 8 coloured respectively.
In the Over 8 (Coloured 1) Yellow and Orange category, Kanetochukwu Adigwe was adjudged the best while Chizea Nwachukwu bagged the Excellence Award for the Over 8 (Coloured 2) Green and above category.
Speaking after the graduation for the gold medal,” she managed to say as fans hurried to celebrate with her,” she added ceremony, head coach of the centre, Abdulmalik Mohammed said nine kids failed to meet up with the requirements for promotion and will therefore, remain in their current classes next year.
“We have 75 students but 66 graduated,” he said. “Most of them are doing well and if they continue at this pace, they will become stars in no time.”
He said the new semester will start in January.
KCCN Taekwondo classes are part of regular activities to strengthen bilateral ties between Nigeria and Republic of Korea.