He spoke to Olalekan Okusan, the Press Officer for the African Table Tennis Federation

Feat belongs to Africa

I feel so happy reaching the quarter-final of the Olympic Games. It is like a dream come true and I am very happy and satisfied with my performance in Rio and I must say that the achievement belongs to all African federations and players and it is not just a personal feat.

Initially, I came here just to enjoy myself because I knew the qualities of players that had qualified for the Games. Apart from the Chinese, all other participants had 50–50 chances against one another and for that reason I was a bit relaxed and started playing without pressure.

Also I had it in my mind that I am not in Rio just to add to the number of participants but to make an impact. I must also say that my qualification for the quarter-final stage is as a result of my hard work and the success just came at the right time on my birthday. I strongly believe I have the potential but I was not expecting to reach the quarter-final. I was optimistic but it was not going to be easy.”

Increased Confidence

I have had difficulties in playing against defenders; winning against the Slovak Chinese-born Wang Yang, who is a defender increased my confidence and that motivated me to do better in subsequent matches. The coaches, teammates, friends and family as well as the president of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation contributed immensely to my good outing in Rio and I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this great journey of my career.

After the victory against the world number seven, Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan, my mind was totally to play Germany’s Timo Boll in the fourth round. I had to play the German the same way I played against Chuang Chih-Yuan and this boosted my confidence throughout the competition. So I felt great after the matches because playing against these world class players was like a dream come true. I was actually looking up to some of these players particularly whenever I am watching their videos.

Help from Segun Toriola

Training in Nigeria did not help my situation in Rio but my 10 month experience in Portugal and France with different coaches helped me a lot. Also Segun Toriola helped me as well by telling me the weaknesses of every opponent because he is familiar with most of them. In training, Toriola’s advice really helped me to change my tactics positively and he was always there for me

Toriola helped me in training and his advice really changed my tactics positively. I can confirm that I have gained a lot from his wealth of experience and seeing him, while playing added to my confidence. I can say that Toriola is a great legend of the sport.

Next Time

I was not disappointed with my performance against Ma Long because I had nothing to lose against him and I was not really scared of him. In the first instance, he is a much better player but I did not put that in my mind before the match started. I took on Ma Long the way I confronted my previous opponents.

Ma Long was too strong for me as I could not respond very well but I strongly believed that when next I play against him against him I will win one game at least.

Support

 I must say that the Brazilians showed me love and they always motivated and encouraged me.

The kind of support I got from them is like the support I am always getting in my home country. They kept me going whenever I was losing hope by echoing my name. They made me feel at home and I remain grateful to them for this.

World Ranking

 This is a new positive; I am waiting for the next world ranking. When I rose to top 30 two years ago, I was under serious pressure to maintain my ranking because it had never happened to me.

After some time the pressure went away and I am now getting used to playing under pressure; however, this time around I am not going to be playing under pressure in order to maintain my new status. I also need more support to play more tournaments so that I can keep my place in the world ranking without dropping down the ladder. I am fully ready to work harder than before and may God continue to crown all my efforts with successes,

Every tournament is like preparing for another tournament and my performance in Rio has really boosted my confidence that I can do better at the World Cup. My World Cup preparation has started at the Rio Olympic Games and I have been able to test my ability against the world’s best. It is just two months to the championship, I will prepare better when I get to my club in Europe. I strongly believe that my best is yet to come and I am praying for luck and getting favourable draw in Germany. I strongly believe that I can still do better than before

 Source of Inspiration

 My performance in Rio will hopefully boost the confidence level of many African players to do so much better in future. I strongly believe that there will be rapid improvement in Africa soon and more talents will come through in the continent.

We have great talents in almost everywhere in Africa and very soon we will all see them.