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Nigeria’s Isau Ogunkunle is thrilled by his famous win over France’s Maxime Thomas in the quarterfinals of the Men’s Class 4 table tennis event of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Ogun State athlete became the star attraction at the South Paris Arena after silencing the home crowd with a stunning 3-1 victory over Thomas to book a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
The unseeded Nigerian, the only African left in the competition after the exits of seven Nigerian teammates and Egyptian counterparts, played his heart out to keep the continent’s hopes alive for a medal.
Having previously suffered two defeats against the Frenchman in their two encounters at Tokyo 2020 and the Italian Open in 2022, Ogunkunle was determined to come out victorious this time.
After losing the first game 9-11, Ogunkunle fought like a Trojan with the intent of disappointing the French fans.
With encouragement from national coach Nasiru Sule, the African champion ignored the noisy spectators and levelled the scores with an 11-5 win in the second game.
He took the lead in the third game at 8-4, but the Frenchman, buoyed by the home support, levelled at 8-8, putting Ogunkunle in a tight spot. But the Nigerian remained calm, confused his opponent by changing tactics, and won the third game 11-9.
The fourth game saw Ogunkunle dominate, ending the Frenchman’s dream and silencing the home fans with an 11-6 win, completing his 3-1 rout of Thomas.
Ogunkunle celebrated his victory with a triumphant shout, earning applause from the crowd.An excited Ogunkunle described the win as the best of his career and promised to leave Paris with the gold medal.
“I am so excited to win this match because it is my first victory against him after he defeated me twice in major tournaments. Today, I showed that I cannot be beaten three times on a big stage by the same player. The victory was sweet because I defeated him in front of his home crowd at the Paralympic Games,” he said.
Ogunkunle, who has already taken down two top seeds on his way to the semifinal, will face another experienced star and two-time Paralympic Games gold medallist, South Korea’s Kim Young-gun, in the semi-finals on Saturday, September 7.
