A record eighth Olympics Games appearance for Nigeria’s Segun Toriola was halted by Egypt’s duo of Omar Assar and Dina Meshref after Toriola and Olufunke Oshonaike lost in the mixed doubles finals of the Africa Olympics qualifying tournament at the weekend in Tunis.
Toriola was aiming to become the first African and indeed table tennis world’s first player to attend eight Olympic Games, an ambition the Egyptians halted in a thrilling encounter in the Tunisian capital.
Oshonaike had earlier on Friday February 28 booked her historic place in Tokyo 2020 as the first African female athlete to attend seven Olympic Games.
There was a hint from the start of the match that it might not go the way of the record-chasing Nigerians, as the Egyptians raced to an 11-6 win in the first set. They cemented their hold on the match with a same score win in the second set and eventually triumphed 11-7 and 11-2 in the last two sets to claim Africa’s sole slot in the mixed doubles.