Teenage sensation Matthew Kuti claimed two national titles under 24 hours as the Lagos State junior champion won 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 the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Kuti, a former African cadet champion, showed class at the Daniel Ford tournament after 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, Kuti tested his might against some of the senior players in the country at the Renewed Hope Challenge, where he won the men’s singles semi-finals 3-0 before beating Ondo’s Wale Fagbamila in the final to emerge as the best male player in the country.
Not minding the age and experience of his opponent, Kuti triumphed 3-1 (11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 11-9) to emerge as the best home-based men’s table tennis player in the country.
Kuti described his win as what he needed after missing the 2023 World Youth Championships 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 the 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 Udoka 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 as she was beaten 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 5-11, 9-11) by the West African University champion.
Vice President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Adesoji Tayo, said the performance of the players was a pointer to the fact that Nigeria was blessed with talented athletes who could hold sway against their foreign counterparts in major championships.
