Oshonaike, Omotayo, Eke return home, Toko, Offiong march on

It is the fifth day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but already, five Nigerian athletes have been eliminated from the competition. Three of them are expected to leave the Games Village two days after their ouster.

Olufunke Oshonaike, Olajide Omotayo and Uche Eke could not make it to the second round of their competitions on day one of the Games and according to the rules, they have 48 hours to vacate the Games Village.

In table tennis, Oshonaike lost 1-4 to Liu Juan of the United States, while Omotayo was beaten 0-4 by Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia.

In gymnastics, Nigeria’s entrant, Uche Eke, failed to make the second round as his apparatus results and all-round score of 74.765 could not take him beyond the preliminary round.

Nigeria’s rower, Esther Toko, finished third on the Olympics rating, which qualified her for the Final E of the women’s Single Sculls. She clocked a time of 9:07.70 seconds in the semi-finals E/F. However, she is not in contention for a medal in the event, as she had earlier failed in her heat on the opening day.

She had earlier finished fourth in 9:07.54s in the preliminary round, which was only good enough for the fourth position. It knocked her out of contention for the available two spots in the race for medals. But it also gave her the opportunity to fight for a good final placement, which will earn her enough points for future competitions.

It has not all been doom for Team Nigeria as Edem Offiong beat her first round opponent to qualify for the second round of the women’s table tennis.

Edem defeated Dora Madarasz 4-1 (11-8 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4) to advance to the second round.