Teenage sensation, Matthew Kuti, claimed two national titles within 24 hours, winning the maiden Daniel Ford Youth Championships as well as the one-day Renewed Hope Top 20 Invitational Challenge held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.
Kuti, a former African cadet champion, showed class at the First Daniel Ford Tournament by coming from 2-0 down in the U-19 boys final to beat Abdulbasit Abdulfatai of Kwara 4-2 to the admiration of special guest, Nwankwo Kanu.
Less than 24 hours after claiming the Daniel Ford gong, the Lagos State-born national junior champion tested his might against some of the senior players in the country at the Second Renewed Hope Challenge and to the surprise of all, he repeated his victory at the Daniel Ford tournament over Abdulfatai in the semifinal of the men’s singles and went on to beat Wale Fagbamila of Ondo State in the final to become the best male player in the country.
Kuti won the final 3-1 (11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9).
An elated Kuti described his win as what he needed after missing the 2023 World Youth Championships held in Slovenia.
“I am happy with my performance, and this was what I wanted to achieve at the WYC. Unfortunately, we could not make the trip and I just hope we will have such an opportunity in near future,” he said.
Like Kuti, Sukurat Aiyelabegan wanted to do the doubles, but her efforts were thwarted in the Renewed Hope final by Hope Uduoka in the women’s singles final.
Aiyelabegan had won the Daniel Ford tournament with ease, but she could not repeat the performance at the Renewed Hope final, where she was beaten 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11) by the West African University Games champion.
Speaking on both competitions, Vice President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Adesoji Tayo, said the performance of the players reinforced the fact that Nigeria is blessed with talented athletes, who can hold sway against their foreign counterparts in major championships.
