Four Nigerian para table tennis athletes have qualified for the 2026 World Para Table Tennis Championships scheduled to hold in Thailand from November 13 to 19.
The qualified athletes are Isau Ogunkunle, competing in the Men’s Classes 4–5; Adesope Abiola Wali, Men’s Class 9; Victor Farinloye, Men’s Class 8; and Kehinde Adebisi Lawal, Women’s Class 9.
The qualification followed the athletes’ impressive performances at various international competitions, where they accumulated valuable ranking points.
Ogunkunle, alongside Victoria Ihuize, won a bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles Class XD10 at the ITTF World Para Table Tennis Elite Championships held at the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Paris, France, from September 12 to 16.
The Nigerian contingent had earlier recorded an impressive outing at the Cardiff International Para Table Tennis Open Championship in the United Kingdom.
At the Cardiff tournament, Adesope Abiola Wali won gold in the Men’s Classes 8–10 after defeating Guatemala’s Diego Suchire 3–1, while Suchire claimed silver and Iraq’s Maria Mikerez took bronze.
Wali also won gold in the Men’s Open Classes 6–10, defeating Suchire 3–0. Suchire settled for silver, while Nigeria’s Victor Farinloye won bronze.
In the Open Mixed Classes 1–10, Suchire defeated Wali 3–1 to claim gold, leaving Wali with the silver medal, while Iraq’s Al Sarraji Mutadher won bronze.
In the Men’s Classes 3–5, Jacob Wicks defeated Nigeria’s Isau Ogunkunle 3–2 in the final, with Canada’s Mohsin Watto taking the bronze medal.
Ogunkunle, however, bounced back to win gold in the Men’s Open Classes 1–5, defeating David Lawrence of the United Kingdom 3–0. Lawrence won silver, while Iraq’s Ali Alzaedi secured bronze.
Nigeria’s total medal haul at the Cardiff Championships was three gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Speaking with Tribune Sports on Sunday, President of the Paralympic Committee Nigeria (PCN), Mr Sunday Odebode, expressed delight at the athletes’ performances.
Odebode said the results would help the Nigerian para table tennis athletes accumulate valuable points ahead of the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
He assured that the PCN would continue to support and expose Nigerian athletes to international competitions to improve their performances and strengthen the country’s representation at major global events.
