Olufunke Oshonaike, also known as Funke Oshonaike (born 28 April 1974) is a professional Nigeria

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 Hamburg, Germany. She competed for Nigeria at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Oshonaike started her playing career on a street called Akeju Street in

Shomolu 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 ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, in the early 1980s while very young. She was a spectacle each time she played because she was very small and used to amaze people with her skill at that early age. She attended Community Primary School, now known as Ola-Olu Primary School, Agunbiade, Shomolu, Lagos. While in primary 4, she won a competition for the school and was honoured by the Headmaster of the school, Mr G.O. Taiwo, on the assembly ground in front of her schoolmates. After her primary education, she proceeded to Igbobi Girls High School, Igbobi-Yaba; she left the school after completion of SSCE to proceed with her education at the University of Lagos where she bagged a Diploma in Physical Education and thereafter pursued a professional career in Table Tennis abroad. At the

2016 Summer Olympics 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Oshonaike competed in the women's single division. In the preliminary round, she defeated Mariana Sahakian of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. In round 1, she was defeated by Adriana Diaz of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. She was the flagbearer for Nigeria during the

Parade of Nations The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...

. She competed in the women's singles at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. for the 7th time having previously qualified and participated in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016

References

External links

* Nigerian female table tennis players Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for Nigeria 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Lagos Yoruba sportswomen African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in table tennis African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games bronze medalists for Nigeria Competitors at the 2007 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 2011 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 2015 African Games Competitors at the 2019 African Games Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics {{Nigeria-tabletennis-bio-stub