By Gabriel Dike
The Lagos State University (LASU) on Thursday made Nigeria proud at the ongoing 10th All Africa University Games in Nairobi, Kenya when a table tennis player, Rilwan Akanbi defeated his North African opponent from American University, Cairo, Egypt to win Gold.
It is the first Gold medal for LASU, which had earlier won three silver and bronze medals at the games holding Kenyatta University, Nairobi.
In the final of the table tennis singles male, the Nigerian ping pong player emerged the African reigning Champion for All African Universities.
Rilwan won in three straight sets of 11-8, 11-6 and 13-11 to beat the hard fighting Egyptian to the Gold medal.
Moments after the great feat, the Leader of Delegation, Team LASU to the games, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Elias Wahab, who was highly elated, shared the moment of joy with the Centre for Information, Press and Public Relations (CIPPR).
“I must say we are overjoyed. Everybody here is happy. We thank God as the ,vice chancellor has supported us all the way to this competition and we are making LASU proud. As I speak to you, LASU just defeated almighty Egypt, that defeated LASU earlier at the doubles as well as team events. As I speak to you, LASU is the reigning African Champion in singles male table tennis”, Wahab stressed.
Speaking further, Prof. Wahab said the African champion Rilwan, had earlier defeated another, Egyptian, Mahmood Abdullah in the Semi- Final, 3-2 ( 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9&11-9) to romp into the final and faced another Egyptian.
He explained that the determination of Rilwan, with focus on the gold medal, gave a good account of himself while playing against the strong Egyptian in the final, who he defeated in three straight sets of 11-8, 11-6 and 13-11.
The victory, he noted sent the venue into ecstacy as the LASU contingent went into wild celebration, with other countries like Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and more joining. The three countries have earlier been sent packing by the Egyptians.
His words: “When we were leaving Nigeria, I recall we said we were going to win gold, God has done it for us. We have silver and bronze medals. The players would have done better, but, due to armstring injuries and muscle pull. The injuries affected their semi final games. Some of the players could not take part in their semi final matches, especially, the Badminton players”, Wahab noted.
Prof. Wahab further posited that LASU became a beautiful bride as the countries the Egyptians defeated on the road to the final shifted their support to the Nigerian side as a sign of solidarity.