A table tennis youngster Taiwo Mati, has become the first Nigerian player to win a medal at the world championships after the former national junior champion claimed a bronze medal in the boys’ doubles event at the 2021 International Table Tennis Federation World Youth Championships in Vila Nova de Gaia Portugal on Tuesday, December 6.
Mati, who trained for over seven months with Africa’s Best Player Aruna Quadri during the COVID-19 lockdown, partnered Peru’s Carlos Fernandez in the boys’ doubles, to exceed expectations by making it to the podium, to claim the first medal for Nigeria in a world championship.
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Despite losing the semifinal tie 3-1 to Russia’s Maksim Grebnev and Vladimir Sidorenko, the no.9 seeds, Mati and his partner were rewarded with a bronze medal.
The turning point for Mati was in the quarterfinal tie as Mati and his partner who were 2 games down came back to beat Norway’s Borgar Haug and Italy’s John Oyebode born of a Nigerian parent, (5-11, 9-11, 16-14, 11-7, 11-9).
