It was a mixed reaction for Team Nigeria’s on day one of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

It was good start for team Nigeria in the Para Badminton event at the Paris 2024 Paralympics as Mariam Eniola Bolaji defeated India’s Mandeep Kaur 2-0 (21-8, 21-14) in her first match in the women's SL3 event.

In the same vein, Chigozie Jeremiah Nnanna proved too strong for German Marcel Adam, snatching a 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) victory in the men's SL4 event. 

Both players will continue their campaign in the Group stages on Friday, 30th August, as Bolaji faces Australia’s Celine Aurelie Vinot, while Nnanna squares off against Indonesian Fredy Setiawan.

In the Table Tennis event, the Nigeria Pair of Kayode Alabi and Victor Farinloye were defeated 3-0 by China’s Huang Jiaxin and Peng Weinan in the round of 16 of the Men’s Doubles in Para Table Tennis at the ongoing Paralympics in Paris. The Chinese pair dominated from the start, winning 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 to advance.

Alabi faced further disappointment when he partnered with Faith Obazuaye in the Round of 16 of the Mixed Doubles event. Despite losing the first game 11-6 to Great Britain’s Joshua Stacey and Bly Twomey, the Nigerians fought back to win the second game 11-7, levelling the tie at 1-1.

However, the experience of Stacey and the youthfulness of Twomey proved decisive as they overcame Alabi and Obazuaye 11-6, 11-6 in the third and fourth games respectively to complete their 3-1 rout of the Nigerians.