Odusanya sets new Asoju-Oba Cup record as Fayele retains title

Bose Odusanya fulfilled her pre-tournament dream after winning her fifth consecutive title at the 51st Asoju-Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Cup, while David Fayele retained his title in the men’s singles event.

Having won 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 editions, Odusanya continued her dominance in the women’s singles by beating Anu Anjuwon convincingly 12-10, 11-4, 11-8, 12-10(4-0) to set a new record as the first female player in recent times to win five consecutive titles.

An excited Odusanya said: “I thank God for making it possible for me to achieve this success. I will like to use this opportunity to thank the Molade Okoya-Thomas family for hosting us and encouraging us through this tournament.

“The match was not that easy because my opponent is a good player. I hope to go higher than this, playing for the national team at international competitions, that’s my target and I hope to achieve this by the grace of God.”

Fayele had to come from 2-0 down to beat Adeyinka Ahmed 3-11, 6-11, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6(4-3) in the men’s single’s event. “I really thought I was going to lose at the beginning because I was two sets down but at the third set, I asked myself, that how can a civilian defeat me? And as a son of God, I came back to my game and thank God I won again,” Fayele admitted.

For Ayodeji Okoya-Thomas, the outcome of this year’s tournament was encouraging considering the large turnout of players. “It’s always pleasing when you see a final day like this, the intensity of the games, they had a wonderful final and when we see a large turnout, we are always happy.

“This is a project that we took on about five years ago and we are thankful to God. Every year, the tournament gets better and we hope to continue this.

“Already, we have started preparing for next year. It’s something that we have to plan to make sure the next one is as good as this one, hopefully God will give us the enablement to keep doing even for a longer period that our father did it,” he said.