by Simon Daish, Interviews conducted by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF Africa, Media Officer
Unfortunately the Nigerian representative was unable to fulfill his goal of reaching the Men’s Singles main draw in Düsseldorf, and was instead eliminated from the competition in the qualification stages.
Despite picking up two victories Ojo Onaolapo’s hopes of progressing from the qualifying group stage were shattered following a straight games defeat to Rajko Gommers of the Netherlands, and in an interview with Olalekan Okusan, the Nigerian competitor Ojo Onaolapo was left disappointed with the outcome.
“I had set the main draw target for myself, unfortunately, I could not meet my expectations and this has once again shown me that I must continue to work hard and redouble my efforts in training so that I can do well in subsequent competitions”, Ojo Onaolapo.
However, Ojo Onaolapo believes that he has gained a good deal of knowledge and tournament experience from his time at the World Championships, and is determined to make improvements in his game moving forward.
“Apart from not meeting my targets, I think I have been able to learn new skills from the top players while I took my time to watch them train daily and with this, I can go back to my training and implement all that I have learnt”, Ojo Onaolapo.
One of Ojo Onaolapo’s standout moment from the early stages of his table tennis career came at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore where he achieved a quarter-finals finish in the Men’s Singles competition before missing out to the eventual champion Koki Niwa.
Ojo Onaolapo also played an important role for his country at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with Nigeria receiving the bronze medal in the Men’s Team category following a terrific victory over India in the battle for third position.
Now the Nigerian competitor has made his World Championships debut, and Ojo Onaolapo was delighted to finally meet some of the world’s finest players during his time in Düsseldorf.
“It was indeed a privilege for me to be in Germany because I was able to see some of the players I had always wanted to meet and also had chats with some of them on their routine. I intend to use their experience in training and hope that I can continue to get better”, Ojo Onaolapo.
Source: The Nation
