The number of Nigerian table tennis players heading to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has increased to three. This comes after Fatimo Bello defeated Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi 4-2 in the final of the second stage of the African Olympic Qualification Tournament at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Initially, Bello did not qualify in the first stage, losing 4-1 to Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou. However, she came back stronger and secured the sole slot in the second stage of the women’s singles qualifiers.
Bello will join her compatriots, Olajide Omotayo and Offiong Edem, in representing Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In addition, Algeria’s Mehdi Bouloussa, who missed out in the first stage, redeemed himself by clinching the last slot in the men’s singles qualification tournament.
The qualified players from the Kigali qualifiers include Nigeria’s trio Bello, Omotayo, and Edem. Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou secured her ticket to her third Olympic appearance, while Fabio Rakotoarimanana became the first Madagascan table tennis player to qualify for the Olympics by earning the second slot in the first stage of the qualifiers. Mehdi Bouloussa of Algeria also secured the final slot in the men’s singles.
Bouloussa, who narrowly lost 3-4 to Wassim Essid of Tunisia in the quarterfinal round of the first stage, bounced back to win the final ticket in the men’s singles of the qualification tournament. In the second stage, Bouloussa defeated Saheed Idowu of Congo Brazzaville (16-14, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4) to earn his maiden ticket to the Olympic Games.
