Isau Ogunkunle and medal aspirations of Nigeria's Para Table Tennis

Posted : 13 July 2023

Although Nigeria has had some many good accounts participating in the Paralympics since their debut in 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, yet, most of the medals are mainly from powerlifting and athletics.

At the 1992 Summer Olympics, Nigeria made her first debut in the Paralympics with 6-man delegations to register in powerlifting and Para table tennis events.

Since then, Nigeria has yet to miss any of the Paralympics with records and medals.

On the first appearance in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Nigeria was represented by six men that competed in track and field, powerlifting and table tennis.

Back then, Adeoye Ajibola became the first Paralympian from Nigeria to win two gold medals, while Monday Emoghawve obtained one in powerlifting.

However, Nigeria has ensured participation in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, though the country has yet to take part in the Winter Paralympics.

The Summer Paralympics in Barcelona fetched Nigeria three gold and three bronze medals to place 21st on the medal's table.

At the 1996 Olympics, Nigeria yet participated fully with eight medals, three gold medals, two silver, and three bronze medals.

At the Sydney 2000 Summer Games, Nigeria improved with a total medal hall of 13 with seven gold, one silver, and five bronze medals.

At the Athens Summer Olympics, Nigerian Paralympians got 11 medals with five gold, four silver, and three gold.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, Nigeria failed to add to the tally of the medal hall but dropped to nine medals with four gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Nigeria improved having 13 medal haul with six gold, five bronze, and two bronze.

The Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics had Nigeria drop to 12 gold medals having eight gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.

At the last 2020 Olympics in Japan, Nigeria hovers around 10 Paralympics medals once again with four gold, one silver, and five bronze medals.

In all, Nigeria has won five medals in Para Table Tennis from the total 80 with medals in powerlifting leading the sway with 54, followed by athletics with 21.

A further breakdown shows that Nigeria has two gold and three bronze in Para Table Tennis, while the country also has 24 gold, 16 silver and 14 bronze medals in Powerlifting and 14 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals in athletics.

Team Nigeria may seem not to be performing poorly in the Paralympics, yet the Paralympians needed to be more prepared for the task ahead of them if they will meet up with the top 10 countries.

Team Nigeria, since debut in 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, is yet to be ranked in the top 15, not to talk of top 10, and this singular reason is enough for the Paralympians to wake up.

To this end, athletes like Isau Ogunkunle, who have been dominating the regional competitions, need to rise up to the challenge and be counted among the gold medalists for Nigeria.

Isau Ogunkunle, born Feb. 10, 1986 is Nigeria's class four Para Table tennis player.

Isau Ogunkunle shot himself to the limelight in 2019 when he created an upset to beat African Champions.

Perhaps the win over the African champion, Egypts Mohamed Sameh Eid, in the first round at the 2019 Africa Para Table Tennis (PTT) Championships in Alexandria, Egypt still remains his best outing till date.

After the win in 2019, Isau Ogunkunle became part of the party to the 2020 Paralympics as a class 9 player.

Isau Ogunkunle's first experience with the Olympics is a teething period as he failed to pick up a win in his two matches.

Isau Ogunkunle lost to Germany’s Maxime Thomas 3-2 (8-11, 11-5, 11-13, 11-6, 11-7) in his first game, before losing 3-1 (11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9) in his second, a result that took him out of the equation for Olympics podium at the preliminary round.

He however teamed up with his counterpart Ahmed Koleosho in the class 4 doubles to defeat the French duo of Florian Merrien and Nicolas Savant in their quarter finals of the men's team class 4-5 event of the table tennis competition, but lost out by a narrow margin in the semi-finals berth.

Ogunkunle further stamped his authority as he emerged a bronze medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Isau Ogunkunle's participation at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Table Tennis Men's single classes C3-5 is a great exposure as a potential player with great prospect for Nigeria.

Ogunkunle en route to the bronze medal finish outclassed Raj Aravindan Alagar 3–0.

Isau Ogunkunle further competed for Nigeria at other local and international meets.

With the Paris 2024 fast approaching, Isau Ogunkunle and Bolawa Akingbemisilu made their presence felt at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Lignano Masters Para Open 2023 in Italy.

The Commonwealth silver medalist Isau Ogunkunle earned the second silver in men's class four after losing 3-2 in the final to Japan's Kazuki Shichino.

Isau Ogunkunle, to many pundits, is fast becoming a reliable project to earn Nigeria a major medal in Para Table Tennis, as he is learning the ropes and getting better every tournament.

Isau Ogunkunle in a chat with Africa Sport Network (ASN), however, noted that there were lots of things to be done to put him in shape ahead of the Olympics.

``It is not about representing Nigeria alone. It is about getting us ready for the Paralympics.

``We have been relegated to the background in the scheme of things. When our able-bodied athletes win medals, we know the attention given to them, but it is not always the case when it comes with the Paralympians.

``Even the monetary result says it all. At times, the Federation will even be owing us our allowance.

``At the last Commonwealth Games where I won the silver medal, how many of the officials remembered me? Even I did not get recognition from my own state, Ogun.

``The other challenges we face is the buying of kits. Imagine we as para-athletes buying our own kits to represent our country? This is ridiculous.

``The Federation needs to change its attitude towards the Para athletes because we are also human beings and not weaklings,'' he said.

With the Paris 2024 fast approaching, it is hoped that the likes of Isau Ogunkunle will rise up to the challenge and make Nigeria proud.

Isau Ogunkunle and medal aspirations of Nigeria's Para Table Tennis

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