Segun Toriola
Nigerian table tennis player (born 1974)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Segun Moses Toriolaⓘ (born 18 September 1974 in Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria) is a retired Nigeria professional table tennis player.[1]
Nigeria.jpg) Toriola in London, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Segun Moses Toriola | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Nigeria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 September 1974 (50 years old) Ilorin, Nigeria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Table tennis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biography
He is the youngest of nine brothers.
Since 1995, he had been ranked amongst the top table tennis players in Africa. Ranked number one in Africa from 1998 until June 2008, when Egyptian Eli Saleh Ahmed became the leading African table tennis player. However, since 2009, Toriola reclaimed his top position[citation needed]. He is known for his unusual style of forehand play. Although his footwork has been criticised, his topspin has caused upset when he has gone up against top world players[citation needed].
During his career, he has won multiple medals in international singles tournaments. These achievements include:
- 4 African Table Tennis Singles Championships (1998, 2002, 2004, 2006) and 2 Doubles Championships (1994,1992)
- A Commonwealth Singles Championship (2002) in Manchester (United Kingdom)
- A Commonwealth Doubles Championship and Singles Bronze Medal (2006) in Melbourne (Australia)
- 4 All-Africa Games Singles Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007),[2] 4 Doubles Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007),[3] 1 Mixed Doubles Gold Medal (1999, with Bose Kaffo; they also won silver in 2003)[4] and 3 Team Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003).
He represented Nigeria at seven Summer Olympics debuting at Barcelona. His most notable achievement at the Olympics has been reaching the Men's Singles 1/16 final at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, beating, amongst others, former world number 1 Jean-Michel Saive, as well as David Zhuang. His 1/32 match-up with Jean-Michel Saive was referred to as one of the highlights of the Men's Singles Tournament[citation needed]. He narrowly lost 4–3 to heavily favoured Oh Sang-Eun in the 1/16 final.[5]
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 and also in 2008 by fellow table tennis player Bose Kaffo. 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 of Angola and Maria Mutola of Mozambique as only third ever African athlete to compete in so many Summer Olympics.
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 (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.