Bello, Akanbi rule 2021 NTTF National Championships

 

Women’s singles defending champion Fatimo Bello of G20 retained her title as Rilwan Akanbi of Atinuke Table Tennis Club emerge men’s singles champion at the 2021 Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) National Championships.

Akanbi, whose inconsistency has dropped his national rating worked his way to the top of the men’s singles after edging out title contenders like Amadi Omeh and Azeez Solanke before finally ending the unbeaten run of Taiwo Mati in the final.

The former Asoju Oba champion, Akanbi , had to rally from 2-0 down to beat Ondo’s Mati 4-3 (7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9) to the admiration of the fans at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

A delighted Akanbi described his win as a reward of hardwork: “I am so delighted to win this title because nobody considered me as a title contender having lost form in the last three years.”

Meanwhile,  Bello  continued her reign as the best female player in the country with a convincing 4-1 (15-13, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 11-1) win over Bose Odusanya in the women’s singles final.

Ondo and G20 won the highest number of medals in the 12 events in the five-day championships with 18 states and 18 clubs made up of 300 players.