FestivalofTT2022: Nigeria smashes Ghana in 'jollof war', emerges regional champions

The match between Nigeria and Ghana was the centre of attraction at the ongoing Festival of Table Tennis on Thursday at the Molade Okoya Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.

Two of West Africa's sporting giants went head-to-head on day one of the 2022 edition with hosts, Nigeria, convincingly coming out tops in both the men and women's categories.

Nigeria Table Tennis stars led by Azeez Solanke, Matti Taiwo, Fatimo Bello and Aminat Fashola proved to be just too good for their counterparts from Ghana after a 3-0 win for each during their matches in the World Championship Regional qualification. 

How Day One started

The day started with the quarter-final pairings in the morning session. In the Men's category,  Nigeria tackled Guinea while their women's counterparts received a bye.

For Ghana, they faced Benin Republic and while their women team also received a bye.

Nigeria didn't waste time to see off Guinea in their last eight encounter while Ghana was pushed to the limits by Benin.

With the game tied at 2-2, star player for the Ghanaians, Commey Emmanuel easily dispatched his opponent in the final and decisive fifth game to give Ghana a 3-2 victory that sealed the jollof date with Nigeria in the last four.

In the end, the Jollof war was an easy 'chow' for following a 3-0 win for the men, while the women's team defeated Ivory Coast in the semi-final before also seeing off Ghana 3-0 in the final.

Meanwhile, in the other men's semi-final clash, Ivory Coast and Togo were at each other's neck for over an hour before the Ivorians prevailed 3-2 to seal their ticket to the final.

The Ivorians will face Nigeria in the Men's final, while Togo and Ghana will battle it out in the playoff to determine who finishes third.