Cecilia Otu Offiong-Akpan (born 13 June 1986 in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and c ...

, Cross River) is a Nigerian table tennis player. She won two gold medals, along with her partner Offiong Edem, in the women's doubles at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nig ...

Algiers, Algeria Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

, and at the 2011 All-Africa Games in

Maputo, Mozambique Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

. As of February 2013, Offiong is ranked no. 452 in the world by the

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tenni ...

(ITTF). She is a member of the table tennis team for Calabar Sports Club, and is coached and trained by Obisanya Babatunde. Offiong is also right-handed, and uses the shakehand grip. Offiong made her official debut, as an 18-year-old, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, where she competed in both singles and doubles tournaments. For her first event, the women's singles, Offiong defeated Brazil's

Lígia Silva Lígia Silva (born March 6, 1981 in Manaus, Amazonas) is a table tennis player from Brazil. She has competed in three Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international s ...

in the preliminary round, before losing out her next match to North Korea's Kim Yun-Mi, with a unanimous set score of 0–4. Offiong also teamed up with her partner Offiong Edem in the women's doubles, where they lost the first round match to Russian duo

Oksana Fadeyeva Oksana Fadeyeva (born 16 March 1975) (née Kushch) is a Russian table tennis player. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the first round of the singles competition. She competed in both singles and doubles in 2004. See also * ...

and Galina Melnik, receiving a final set score of 3–4. Four years after competing in her first Olympics, Offiong qualified for her second Nigerian team, as a 22-year-old, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

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 ...

, by placing third from the All-Africa Games in

, and receiving a continental spot for Africa in the women's team under ITTF's Computer Team Ranking List. Offiong joined with her fellow players and Olympic veterans

Olufunke Oshonaike Olufunke Oshonaike, also known as Funke Oshonaike (born 28 April 1974) is a professional Nigeria table tennis player based in Hamburg, Germany. She competed for Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Oshonaike started her playing career on a str ...

and Bose Kaffo for the inaugural women's team event. She and her team placed fourth in the preliminary pool round against Singapore, United States, and the Netherlands, receiving a total of three points and three straight losses. In the women's singles, Offiong lost the preliminary round match to Australia's

Miao Miao Miao Miao () (born 14 January 1981, Tianjin, China) is an Australian table tennis player who represented Australia at the Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London Olympic Games. Her best Olympic result was the quarter finals of the doubles tournamen ...

, with a unanimous set score of 0–4.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Offiong, Cecilia 1986 births Living people Nigerian female table tennis players Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players of Nigeria People from Cross River State 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