The duo of Foluke Shittu and Kafayat Omisore defeated Tanzania’s Lucy Shirima and Rehema Selemani 2-0 (7-5, 6-4) in the third-place match to settle for bronze medal of the wheelchair tennis women’s doubles at the 2023 Africa Para Games in Accra, Ghana.
Nigeria lost to African number one doubles, Najwa Awane and Samira Benichi of Morocco 0-2 (2-6, 6-7) in the semifinal match on Friday.
Kafayat Omisore said she felt fulfilled attending the Africa Para Games as Nigeria won bronze at the maiden edition.
Omisore revealed that she sacrificed her investments and time in training hard for the Games and it would have been disastrous not making an appearance at the competition.
She said, “I am happy that wheelchair basketball won Nigeria’s first medal at the Africa Para Games in Ghana. Our intention was to win a gold medal for the country in the women’s doubles but we were stopped again by the Moroccans.
“It would have been disastrous if Nigeria failed to attend the Games because I have invested my time and resources in training. I believe if the para-athletes are given equal opportunity with the able sports, we will continue to make the country proud”.
The president of the aralympic committee Nigeria Mr Sunday odebode speaking after the presentation of the medals to the two athletes said Nigeria has launched itself in the power House of wheelchair tennis in the continent of Africa and said the success recorded would continue to be improved upon in all subsequent tournaments.
According to him ” we came to Ghana for the first Africa para games with the hope of picking the gold medal but played against the number seeded player from the continent who won the game with a narrow margin but we have learnt our lesson and would pick up “
Secretary of the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria (PCN), Suleiman Isah commended the Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh for his last-minute intervention in ensuring the wheelchair tennis players attended the maiden edition of the Africa Para Games in Ghana.
Isah said, “The players did make the country proud by picking a bronze medal in the women’s double event. Either Foluke Shittu or Kafayat Omisore would pick a bronze medal on Saturday as the match is all Nigeria affairs involving the two players from the country
“We believe that the exposure gotten from the tournament would sharpen the athletes for more competitive games as we continue the pathway to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games”.
