The winners of the doubles and mixed doubles will qualify for the 54th Okoya-Thomas table tennis tournament

The winners emerged yesterday in the doubles and mixed doubles of the 54th Molade Okoya-Thomas Table Tennis Championships held at the Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.

The second day of the annual championship saw some breathtaking performances in the men’s doubles as Emmanuel Augustine and Muiz Adegoke beat David Fayele and Rilwan Akanbi 3-2 to be crowned the winners.

In the women’s event, Anu Anjuwon and Bose Akinsete also beat Bose Odusanya and Kehinde Oyeniyi 3-2 to win the women’s doubles.

In the mixed doubles, Fayele and Akinsete convincingly beat Augustine and Oyeniyi 3-0 to win the title.

As the curtains come down on the championships today, defending champion Rilwan Akanbi takes on Muiz Adegoke while David Fayele takes on Emmanuel Augustine in the men’s singles semi-finals.

In the women’s singles, seven-time champion Odusanya will take on Akinsete, while Anu Anjuwon will face Zainab Surmer in the semi-finals.

The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the finals in both the men’s and women’s singles, which will be decided later today.

One of the top judges, John Peter, has said that this year’s tournament has brought surprises with teenage sensation, Matthew Kuti reaching the quarter-finals before the more experienced Akanbi went down 4-2.

I think this year’s tournament showed that there is more and more talent in Lagos and I believe that in the years to come they will be in the ranks to become the stars of the country.

I must also thank the family of Late Molade Okoya-Thomas for their determination to ensure that the tournament goes ahead this year despite the delays and we hope that next year the new milestone edition will be bigger and more exciting,” he said.