Kayode Alabi and Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi: Meet the first African couple to qualify for the Paralympic

Kayode Alabi and Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi: Meet the first African couple to qualify for the Paralympic

Hassan Abdulsalam 17:28 - 22.09.2023

Nigeria dominated the men's singles category, claiming the bulk of the tickets, with four of the six qualifiers making their Paralympic Games debut.

Nigeria's Kayode Alabi and Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi became the first African couple to qualify for the Paralympic Games after securing their maiden ticket at the ITTF African Para Championships in Giza, Egypt.

Faith Obazuaye also got the first ticket after winning the women's singles class 10 championship. Nigeria added extra tickets in women's classes nine and five in successive sessions, with Kehinde Lawal and Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi topping their events as champions.

Nigeria dominated the men's singles category, claiming the bulk of the tickets, with four of the six qualifiers making their Paralympic Games debut.

Olufemi Alabi and Victor Farinloye will return to the games after competing in the men's classes 10 and 8 in Tokyo.

OGUNKUNLE ISAU

Isau Ogunkunle, Bolawa Akingbemisilu, Kayode Alabi, and Abiola Adesope won their respective classes and will compete in Paris in 2024.

Ogunkunle, a Commonwealth Games medalist, lost the ticket to Egypt in 2019 during his debut appearance at the continental tournament.

However, Egypt's trio of champions in women's classes one, three, and eight were Ola Soliman, Fawzia ElShamy, and Hagar Elsayed.

Egypt's Sayed Youssef became the second Egyptian table tennis player, after Samed Eid-Saleh, to qualify for five Paralympic Games.

Youssef, who has been unbeaten in the men's singles class seven for the last 15 years, competed in Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020. Now he returns to the games with a chance to improve on his fifth-place performance in earlier editions.

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