TheCable

Nigeria has won a bronze medal despite losing to Australia 2-0 in the semi-finals of the men’s team class 9 to 10 event of the table tennis at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.

The team, which comprises Tajudeen Agunbiade and Alabi Olufemi, booked a place in the semis after defeating the US 2-1 in round 16, followed by the 2-0 domination of Montenegro in the quarter-finals.

The qualification for the semi-finals guaranteed the Nigerian team a medal as there would be no play-off for bronze in table tennis.

In the fixture’s doubles, the Nigerian pair lost 1-3 to their Australian counterparts of Ma Lin and Joel Coughlan.

After losing the first set 10-12, the Nigerian team fought back to win 11-8, only to lose 10-12 and 5-11 in the third and fourth set, respectively.

Ma then came back from two sets down to beat Agunbiade 3-2 in the opening singles  (8-11, 9-11, 3-11, 9-11, 8-11).

Both losing semi-finalists — Nigeria and Ukraine — will be awarded bronze medals.

Australia will face China on Friday in the final, after the Chinese beat Ukraine 2-0 in the other semi-final fixture.

The development brings Nigeria’s total Tokyo Paralympic haul to seven — three gold, one silver and three bronze medals — with just four days to the end of the games.

Eucharia Iyiazi will also be flying Nigeria’s flag in the women’s shot put F57 event on Thursday at the Olympic Stadium with the hope of adding to the country’s achievement in Tokyo.