It will be a battle Royale
on Thursday at the 51st Asoju Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Cup as current and former
champions clash in the semifinal of the women’s singles at the Teslim Balogun
Stadium.
Defending champion,
Bose Odusanya and 2013 champion, Tolu Durosimi-Etti will be the cynosure of all
eyes as both players battle for a place in the final scheduled for Friday November
29.
Already, both players
have started talking tough with Odusanya reiterating her resolve to hold on to
the title. “I think I played against her when I won my first title in 2015 and
this year will not be an exception as I hope to take her down again. I am in
good shape and I don’t see anybody stopping me from retaining the title again. She
can only try but she can stop me,” a confident Odusanya said.
For Durosimi-Etti, the
tie promises to be explosive. But she admitted that her opponent is in good shape
having watched her matches so far. “It is a 50-50 match but I am sure I can
still win the title. She is in good form but she is beatable in the
competition. I don’t think I am here to just give her the chance to walk over
everybody as I am ready to dethrone her and reclaim the title I surrendered in
2014,” Durosimi-Etti boasted.
As a prelude to what
she is capable of doing, Odusanya partnership with David Fayele conquered
Durosimi-Etti and Samson Agbaje 11-4, 11-4, 11-9 to emerge winners of the mixed
doubles event.
Also in the men’s
singles, former national junior star, Joseph Osendukwu is aiming to end the
reign of Fayele as both players battle in the quarterfinal.
A determined Osendukwu
said: “I don’t see him reigning for long and I think I am fully ready to stop
him from parading himself as champion. He is going down and I am fully in top
shape to ensure I stop him from retaining the title,” he said.
The longest running
sports tournament in Nigeria has been bankrolled by the family of late Chief Dr
Molade Okoya-Thomas since the demise of the initiator 2014 and it is organized by
the Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSSTA).
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