28th June, 2010
Students of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos Nigeria were a sight to behold Saturday in the Table Tennis event of the ongoing Lagos Inter-Tertiary Games 2010 as they won the Men and Women’s Singles of the competition.
The venue of the event, the Indoor Sports Hall of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka, came alive after Adeyinka Ahmed of Yaba Tech defeated Aileru Ganiyu of UNILAG 4-0 to win the Men’s Singles gold medal. Ganiyu was no match for his opponent as he lost all the sets: 11-13, 9-11, 2-11, 6-11. Ahmed won the gold medal of the event for Yaba Tech and a cash prize of N100,000, while Ganiyu won silver medal with and N60, 000. Sunday Agunade of Lagos State University, LASU, came third and got N40,000.
In the Women’s Singles, last year’s runner-up, Rashidat Ogundele of Yaba Tech, defeated her compatriot, Idris Morufat in a close contest that ended 4-2. Apart from the gold medal won by Ogundele, she was also given N100,000, Idris won silver medal and N60,000, while the third placed Aguneke Blessing of LASU won bronze medal and N40,000.
Yaba Tech took the lead on the medal table with 2 gold and 1 silver. UNILAG won 1 silver, while LASU won 2 bronze medals.
Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Rotimi Agunloye, who was the Special Guest of Honour, descried the performance of the finalists as excellent and gave kudos to the organisers of the Tertiary Games.
The Registrar of UNILAG, Mr. Rotimi Sodimu, who was also a special guest at the final said it creates a healthy competition among higher institutions of learning in Lagos.
Prince Wale Oladunjoye, Senior Special Assistant of Grassroots Sports Development to Governor Raji Fashola was happy at the spirit of sportsmanship showed by the ping pongers.
The tournament continues in various centres across the state until Saturday when the curtains will be drawn with finals of some athletic events and football.
—Adebobola Alawode