Segun Toriola

Segun Toriola (born September 18, 1974) is a Nigerian professional table tennis player.

Born in Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria, as the youngest of nine brothers.

Since 1995 is ranked as the best Nigerian player, a status he has kept from then on. He has been amongst the top table tennis players in Africa since the mid 1990s. Ranked number 1 in Africa from 1998 to June 2008, when Egyptian Eli Saleh Ahmed became the leading African table tennis player. Renowned for his unusual style of forehand play, which makes him an awkward opponent for many. Despite lacking good footwork has an excellent topspin, which has allowed him to pull off many upsets with top world players.

During his career he has won multiple medals in international singles tournaments. Some of his important achievements are:
* 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-African Games Singles Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007), 4 Doubles Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003,2007) and 3 Team Gold Medals (1995, 1999, 2003).

He represented Nigeria at five Summer Olympics debuting at Barcelona. His biggest achievement at the Olympics has been reaching the Men's Singles 1/8 final at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, beating amongst others former world number 1 Jean-Michel Saive as well as David Zhuang. His 1/16 match-up with Jean-Michel Saive was seen by many as one of the highlights of the Men's Singles Tournament. He narrowly lost 4-3 to favoured Oh Sang-Eun in the 1/8 final. [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Athlete/2/227462.shtml Profile at the 2008 Beijing official website] ]

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