Nigeria emerged the overall champion of the 2023 ITTF African Para Championships which ended on Saturday September 23, 2023 in Giza, Egypt.

The three-day tournament had hosts – Egypt – Algeria, Nigeria, Mauritius, Cameroon, South Africa, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire competing in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.

Nigeria carted home 12 gold medals to dethrone Egypt as the new para table tennis champion in Africa. The Nigerians asserted themselves as the new heavyweights in the continent’s para table tennis by dominating the singles event to pick up most of the tickets to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

From the 14 tickets available for the Paralympic Games, Nigeria picked nine while Egypt settled for five in the singles events. However, the host team dominated the doubles and mixed doubles events with five gold medals while Nigeria picked two.

In the overall medals table, Nigeria picked 12 gold while Egypt won 10 to surrender their dominance to the West African nation..
The medalists are: GOLD MEDALS: . Faith Obazuaye (women class 10)
Kehinde Lawal (women class 9)
Ifechukwude Ikpeoyi (women class 5)
Femi Alabi (men class 10)
Biola Adesope (men class 9)
Victor Farinloye (men class 8)
Kayode Alabi (men class 6)
. Bolawa Akingbemisilu (men class 5)
Isau Ogunkunle (men class 4) and the silver medalists are;. Shoremekun Ganiyat (women class 6 – 8)
, Faith Obiora (women class 5),Chukwuemeka Francis (men class 9),Femi Fabiyi (men class 8), Mustafa Isa (men class 6)while the silver medalists are; Kate Oputa (women class 5),Tajudeen Agunbiade (men class 9),Nasiru Sule (men class 5).
Reacting to this develo9ment,the president Para table tennis federation who also doubles as President,Paralympic Committe Nigeria (PCN),Sunday Odebode who expressed his excitement on the results commended the players for making the country proud and urged them to set their gaze on winning medals at the Paralympic games in Paris next year.

“We thank God for His goodness and thank you all for your prayers and support”,he said.

President, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy commended all the participating teams and described the tournament as a success, especially with the facilities and hospitality provided by the Egyptian Table Tennis Federation (ETTF).

The Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has congratulated Nigerian long jumper, Ese Brume for her silver medal achievement in the long jump event at the Diamond League, in Eugene, Oregon.

Brume came close to winning her first Diamond League title after leaping 6.85m, just as Ivana Vuketa, who won gold. The Minister lauded the Nigerian for finishing strong, despite missing out of first place by very small margins.

“Ese Brume has continued to make us proud time and again. From the Olympics to the Commonwealth Games, to Diamond Leagues, Ese has consistently ranked amongst the top athletes in her sports, globally.”

“While it is disappointing that she narrowly missed out on the Diamond League title, I want to state that the country remains proud of her achievements. I am sure that she will bounce back and take her rightful place. I urge her and other athletes likewise to stay focused on the bigger picture as we draw closer to the 2024 Olympic Games.”

Brume won a bronze medal at the last Olympic games in Tokyo, before going on to win silver medals at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and World Indoor Championships in Eugene and Belgrade respectively. In the summer of 2022, she won gold in Birmingham, during the Commonwealth Games.

Hansi Flick was fired as Germany head coach on Sunday, the country’s football federation (DFB) announced, one day after a 4-1 loss to Japan deepened the gloom around the squad ahead of hosting next year’s European Championship.

The DFB said director Rudi Völler would be one of three coaches taking joint charge of the next game, a friendly against France on Tuesday in Dortmund.

Germany have not won any of their past five games and were eliminated in the group stage at last year’s World Cup.

Flick said after the loss to Japan that he wanted to remain as coach and insisted he was the right person for the job. Sunday’s announcement came hours after he led the team in a public training session attended by fans.

Flick won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2020 and took the Germany job the following year. He started by winning his first eight games — without facing any of Europe’s top teams — but has just four wins from 17 matches since then.

Germany captain Ilkay Gündogan backed Flick to remain after the Japan game but said the team sorely lacked cohesion.

Hansi Flick coached Germany at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the country exited at the group stage. Federico Gambarini/picture alliance via Getty Images
“A lot of our players, they are in a mental fight with themselves. There’s no confidence, there’s no understanding for the timing, for the right decisions on the pitch,” Gündogan told broadcaster beIN.

The interim coaching staff faces a tough task against France, who have won all of their five Euro 2024 qualifiers without conceding a single goal since losing the World Cup final on penalties to Argentina last year.

A likely permanent replacement could be Julian Nagelsmann. He was Flick’s successor at Bayern until the club replaced him with Thomas Tuchel in March. After the France game, Germany are next in action Oct. 14 against the United States, and Mexico four days later.

“Now, us in charge, have to act in order to be able to play next year at the Euro the demanding and ambitious role of hosts that we are hoping to play. That is what German fans rightly expect from us,” said Völler, who was national team coach from 2000 to 2004.

“The most urgent thing is then to bring in a national team coach who at short notice can redirect and prepare our team for the big Euro tournament next year.

“We expect from them, as does the whole country, positive impulses. A coach who can lift our level to where we know and expect it to be.”