Day 5: Super Falcons, Badminton team exit Olympics in early stage

"Persecondnews correspondent covering the Olympic games live in Paris reports that after three straight losses, the Super Falcons finished bottom of the table and exited the Paris Olympics in the group stage"

Per Second NewsAugust 1, 2024571

By Samuel Akpan in Paris

Day five of the Olympics saw another underwhelming performance from Team Nigeria, as the Super Falcons and badminton team exited the games.

The Persecondnews correspondent, who is covering the Olympics games live in Paris, reports that the Super Falcons finished bottom of the table and exited the Paris Olympics in the group stage after three consecutive losses.

Nigeria’s coach, Randy Waldrum, kept the 4-2-3-1 formation used against Spain but made a small change by placing Asisat Oshoala in the striker position. Esther Okoronkwo stayed on the bench, while Onyi Echegini played well as an attacking midfielder.

The Japanese team used a 5-3-2 formation to outplay the Super Falcons, scoring a goal in the 22nd minute to take control.

Nigeria had more possession, but they were unable to stop Chelsea forward Maika Hamano’s early goal, which Mina Tanaka followed 10 minutes later.

Onyi Echegini scored a goal with a pass from Benfica’s Christy Ucheibe, making it 2-1. However, Japan’s Hikaru Kitagawa scored again about five minutes into extra time in the first half. The first half ended with a score of 3-1.

Before this, the Super Falcons struggled to prevent goals in the first half.
In the second half, the coach made a few changes, bringing in Toni Payne for Chidinma Okeke and Oshoala for Chinwendu Ihezuo.

This significantly helped the Super Falcons strengthen their defence and prevent any further goals.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian women’s team couldn’t find the net of the Japanese and lost their chance to advance in the tournament.

They finished at the bottom of the table with no points, while Spain topped the group.

Meanwhile, in badminton, Anuoluwapo Opeyori, the team’s captain, concluded his journey at the Paris Olympics after a challenging match against the formidable Li Shifeng of China, currently ranked 6th globally in men’s singles badminton.

Despite the initial setback of losing his opening game, Opeyori displayed resilience and determination in attempting to stage an upset for a chance to advance.

However, despite his efforts, he was unable to overturn the match result, ultimately losing both sets with identical scores of 17-21, 17-21 to the skilled Shifeng.

Persecondnews reports that Opeyori is Team Nigeria’s only representative at this event, and this is his second consecutive Olympics.