The Mustapha brothers ―Musa Mustapha and Mustapha Mustapha― are the youngest players to grace the stage at the Nigeria Open 2018, organized by the International Table Tennis Federation, staged in Lagos.
Musa Mustapha, aged 9, and Mustapha Mustapha, aged 10, picked up table tennis from their father, Saheed Mustapha, a former player himself, just about a year ago.
Youngbloods
With no look of despair or fear in their eyes, both youngsters who became the centre of attraction at the games took on players up to two times their age at their first international tournament on Wednesday in the U-21 men’s singles.
In the face of defeat, after being overpowered by the older players, Musa and Mustapha still maintained their resolve and vowed to one day stand atop the podium as champions of the Nigeria Open.
Musa lost to Tobi Falana 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 in his first group game before suffering another defeat by Egypt’s Wael Ziad in his second game.
“I will win the Nigeria Open in future.” — Musa Mustapha
His older brother, Mustapha, also lost his first group game to Nigeria’s Augustine Emmanuel 11-3, 11-2, 11-8, before falling to China’s Wang Xinyang in the second.
“We began playing table tennis in 2017 and have played in a few other tournaments but the Nigeria Open is our first international tournament. We have learned a lot from playing against more experienced players.” — Mustapha Mustapha
You can be rest assured that with the experience these two have garnered from the Nigeria Open 2018, there is a lot more we will see them achieve as they progress in the game of table tennis.