Segun Moses Toriola (born 18 September 1974 in

Ilorin Ilorin is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Kwara State in Western Nigeria.. Retrieved 18 February 2007 As of the 2006 census, it had a population of 777,667, making it the List of Nigerian cities by population, 7th ...

Kwara Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

) is a retired Nigeria 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. He is the youngest of nine brothers. Since 1995 he has been ranked as the best Nigerian player. He has been amongst the top table tennis players in Africa since the mid-1990s. Ranked number 1 in Africa from 1998 to June 2008, when

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 ...

ian Eli Saleh Ahmed became the leading African table tennis player. However, since 2009, Toriola has again been the number 1 in Africa. Renowned for his unusual style of forehand play, which makes him an awkward opponent for many. Despite lacking good footwork has an excellent topspin, which has allowed him to pull off many upsets with top world players. During his career he has won multiple medals in international singles tournaments. Some of his important achievements are: * 4 African Table Tennis Singles Championships (1998, 2002, 2004, 2006) and 2 Doubles Championships (1994,1992) * A Commonwealth Singles Championship (2002) in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) * A Commonwealth Doubles Championship and Singles Bronze Medal (2006) in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) * 4

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

Singles Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007), 4 Doubles Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007), 1 Mixed Doubles Gold Medal (1999, with

Bose Kaffo Bose Kaffo (born 14 November 1972 in Surulere, Lagos State, Nigeria) is a Nigerian professional table tennis player who competed at five Olympics from 1992 to 2008. She is the second Nigerian woman to compete at five Olympics, after sprinter Ma ...

; they also won silver in 2003)
and 3 Team Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003). He represented Nigeria at seven

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

debuting at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. His biggest achievement at the Olympics has been reaching the Men's Singles 1/16 final at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, beating amongst others former world number 1

Jean-Michel Saive Jean-Michel Saive (born 17 November 1969) is a Belgian former professional table tennis. Saive competed at seven consecutive Olympics between 1988 and 2012, and he was also a winner in singles at European Championship 1994. Personal life Born ...

as well as

David Zhuang David Zhuang (Chinese: 莊永祥, Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teac ...

. His 1/32 match-up with

was seen by many as one of the highlights of the Men's Singles Tournament. He narrowly lost 4–3 to heavily favoured

Oh Sang-Eun Oh Sang-eun (; ; born April 13, 1977, in Daegu, South Korea) is a South Korean table tennis player. He is currently sponsored by the table tennis product company, Butterfly. His World Ranking had been in the top 10 since the 2005 World Champion ...

in the 1/16 final.Profile at the 2008 Beijing official website
/ref> His fifth Olympic appearance in 2008 made him the first Nigerian ''man'' to appear at five Olympics. This feat was achieved four years earlier by sprinter

Mary Onyali Nkemdilim “Mary” Onyali-Omagbemi (née Onyali, born 3 February 1968) is a Nigerian former sprinter, she was a 5x Olympian 1988 - 2004. She had won the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1992 Olympic Games and in the 200 m at the ...

and also in 2008 by fellow table tennis player

. By the end of the 2008 Summer Olympics, only thirteen table tennis players worldwide had appeared at least five Olympics. With his participation in 2012 Olympics in London he became the only Nigerian athlete to appear at six Olympics. He therefore joined

João N'Tyamba João Baptista N'Tyamba (born 20 March 1968) is an Angolan runner. He was born in Lubango. He started as a middle-distance runner and competed in the 800 meters at Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's 800 metres, 1988 Summer Olympics. He ...

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and

Maria Mutola Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( ; born 27 October 1972) is a retired female track and field athlete from Mozambique who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth female track and field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

as only third ever African athlete to compete in so many Summer Olympics. 2018 ITTF African-Cup Toriola competed in the 2018 IITF African-Cup, placing first in group 4, allowing him to qualify for the Quarter Finals. In the Quarter Finals, Toriola faced and was defeated by Congolese player

Saheed Idowu Saheed Idowu (born 3 January 1990 in Brazzaville) is a Congolese table tennis player. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's singles, but was defeated in the preliminary round. 2018 ITTF African-Cup Idowu competed in the 2018 ITT ...

(2-4) resulting in Toriola's elimination. In the placement rounds, Toriola defeated both Thameur Mamia (3-2) and Sami Kheroff (3-1) to finish the tournament at 5th place. Legacy Segun Toriola's name is synonymous with Nigerian and African Table Tennis. Having won numerous African titles and appearing in six Olympic games, Toriola has been influential well into his 40s as he has been consistently placed among Africa's top ten. His teaming with fellow powerhouse

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 ...

in Men's Doubles and Team events to represent their home country of Nigeria has become common on the world stage.

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