One of Nigeria’s medal hopefuls in the table tennis event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has crashed out.
Segun Toriola, who advanced to the second round in the male singles on Saturday, was beaten 4-2 by his Japanese challenger, Niwa Koki, on Sunday.
Toriola, 41, beat Koki 9-11 in the first set before the Japanese rallied back to dominate the second set 11-5.
Koki also won the third set 11-7 before Toriola triumphed in the fourth set, leaving scores at 4-11.
At that point, it appeared the Nigerian would overpower his challenger for the rest of the match. But Koki was in no mood to concede.
The Japanese overpowered Toriola 11-6, 11-1 in the fifth and sixth sets respectively to bring total scores at 4-2.
Toriola was one of Nigeria’s medal prospects and his ouster is a big setback for Nigeria’s ambition to return home with medals.
Toriola, who is making a record appearance in the competition, had on Saturday beaten Dmitrij Prokopcov of the Czech Republic 4-2 in the Men’s Singles Round One.
Toriola Crashes Out Of Rio 2016
