Olajide Omotayo Adeyemi (born 6 July 1995, in

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

) is a Nigerian professional

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player based in Italy. He is the youngest of 6 siblings. His peak world ranking to date was 85. He is currently ranked 144 in the

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the p ...

(ITTF) Men Singles World Ranking. He is the current Champion of Africa after defeating

Quadri Aruna Quadri Akinade Aruna (born 9 August 1988, in Oyo, Nigeria) is a professional Nigeria table tennis player. He competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals in the latter competition. He is ...

to win Gold in the Men's Singles at the

2019 African Games The 12th African Games was held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. This was the first time that the African Games were hosted by Morocco following the country's readmission to the African Union in January 2017. Bidding process The 12th ...

, his debut appearance. Olajide is known for his offensive playing style with a strong topspin stroke. In 2017, Olajide secured a five-year sponsorship deal with the German manufacturer of kits, Gewo. He competed for Nigeria at the 2016 African Championship (doubles event) and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, winning Bronze and silver, respectively. His first international appearance for Nigeria was in 2008 as a cadet at the 2008

(ITTF) African Junior and Cadet Championships, which was held in Alexandria, Egypt. In 2019, he was nominated for the Nigerian Sportsman of the Year Award by the ITTF.

Early years

Olajide attended Pedro Primary School, Famous, Bariga and later, Morocco Comprehensive High School, Igbobi Yaba, Lagos, for his Junior Secondary Education before proceeding to Baptist Senior High School, Obanikoro Palmgroove, for his Senior Secondary School Education.

Table tennis career

Olajide started playing Table Tennis at the age of 8. He was introduced to the game by his sister, Omobolanle Omotayo, a one-time national table tennis champion. He started his career playing for a local club, the Summer Table Tennis club, in his neighbourhood in

Somolu Somolu (or Shomolu) is a local government area (LGA) in Lagos. It is located in Southwest Nigeria, North of Lagos city and its administrative headquarters is located on Durosimi Street. Somolu Local Government is part of the Lagos East Senatorial ...

Area,

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...

. He represented his school in the Lagos State Table Tennis Competition for Primary Schools and the National School sports Competition at age 9. He started representing Nigeria at International Competitions at 11. In 2008, he represented Nigeria at the All African Junior Table Tennis Championships in Alexandria

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, where he won Bronze. He has since then established himself as a key member of Nigeria's senior table Tennis Team at several International Tournaments. He aspires to get to the Top 50 ranked players in the world.

2015 African Games

Olajide failed to qualify for the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

after losing a crucial game during the trials. He couldn't return to his club in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at the time and was on the verge of quitting

Table Tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

completely.

's record-breaking qualification for the

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

gave him hope to fight back.

2018 Commonwealth Games

Olajide was one of the five male Table Tennis players selected to represent Nigeria at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. The Nigerian team included

Bode Abiodun Bode Abiodun (born 1980) is a Nigerian table tennis player. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics as part of the Nigerian team, in the Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's team, men's team event. Tennis References

1 ...

, Azeez Jamiu,

, and veteran player,

Segun Toriola Segun Moses Toriola (born 18 September 1974 in Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria) is a retired Nigeria professional table tennis player. He is the youngest of nine brothers. Since 1995 he has been ranked as the best Nigerian player. He has been amongst t ...

. Nigeria won silver at the end of the competition after losing to the Indian Team consisting of

Sharath Kamal Achanta Sharath Kamal (born 12 July 1982) is an Indian professional table tennis player. He is the first Indian table tennis player ever to become ten times Senior National Champion hence breaking the record of eight-time National Champion Kaml ...

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (born 8 January 1993) is an Indian table tennis player, who is the highest ranked Indian, currently ranked at 39 in the world as of November 2022. He was a member of the Indian team that won back to back Gold medals in 201 ...

and

Harmeet Desai Harmeet Desai is an Indian table tennis player. He is currently ranked 71 in the world as of August 2021. He is from Surat. In 2018 Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, He won gold in men's team event with Sharath Kamal, Anthony A ...

in the finals.

2018 African Championship in Mauritius

Olajide featured in the 2018 African Championship in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, representing Nigeria. He made it to the semi-finals after beating Togo's Atarou Assou and Angola's Elizandro André. He had a stunning outing as he defeated Egypt's no.3 seed, Mohamed El-Beiali and Shady Magdy, to make it to the semi-final round. Olajide lost to compatriot

2019 ITTF World Team Cup

The Nigerian Team represented by

, Olajide Omotayo and

1 ...

played against Team China in Group A at the

2019 ITTF Team World Cup The 2019 Table Tennis World Cup, ITTF Team World Cup (also known as the ZEN-NOH 2019 ITTF Team World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a table tennis competition that took place in Tokyo, Japan, from 6 to 10 November 2019. It was the 12th edition o ...

. Olajide lost 3–0 to world number 10, Yun-Ju Lin in the game. In the doubles match, Quadri and Olajide played against Cheng-Ting Liao and

Chen Chien-an Chen Chien-an (; born 16 June 1991) is a Taiwanese table tennis player. He won the 2008 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in singles. In May 2013, in the 52nd World Table Tennis Championships held in Paris, France, Chen Chien-an and Chua ...

and lost (2-1). The Nigerian team lost (3-1) overall to exit the

, which was held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

finished second in the Group while Nigeria exited, bagging the third spot.

2019 African Games

At the

, which was held in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, Olajide was up against three of the best players in Africa to become the continent's champion. He played against two former champions – Egypt's

Ahmed Saleh Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar ( ar, أحمد علي عبد الله صالح الأحمر; born July 25, 1972) is the eldest son of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and was a commander of approximately 80,000 troops of the Republi ...

and Nigeria's

in the

quarterfinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

and

semifinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

stages. The final was a classic with one of his role models in the game and the then highest-ranked African table tennis player,

. Omotayo raced to the lead with a 3-0 (13-11, 11–9, 16–14). The more experienced Quadri had a good comeback in the 4th and 5th games cutting the lead to 3–2 with 8–11, 13–15. Omotayo scaled through with a 12–10 win to claim his first international gold medal.

2020 Tokyo Olympics (2021)

Omotayo qualified for Men's Singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Games were rescheduled to 2021 due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He was defeated in four (4) straight sets by

Tiago Apolónia Tiago André Barata Feio Peixoto Apolónia (born 28 July 1986) is a Portuguese table tennis player for German club TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen and Portugal. As of August 2016, he is ranked the number eighteenth player in the world. Career Born i ...

in the First Round.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omotayo, Olajide 1995 births Living people Nigerian male table tennis players Table tennis players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in table tennis African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in table tennis Competitors at the 2019 African Games Sportspeople from Lagos State Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Nigeria Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for Nigeria 21st-century Nigerian people Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games