Mariam Bolaji of Nigeria on Sunday in Paris, France lost her semi-final clash against Zuxian Xiao of China in the para-badminton competition at the ongoing 2024 Paralympic Olympic Games in Paris.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Bolaji had defeated Mandeep Kaur of India 21-8 21-9 in the quarter-finals to became the 1st African Para-athlete to make the semifinals of Para-Badminton event at the Paralympics, raising hope.
She, however, put up a good showing, but lost the semifinal match, losing to Xiao in the women’s Singles SL3. Bolaji came very close to making the final, but lost 2-0 (16-21, 17-21) to miss out on a chance to compete for a gold medal.
The semifinal match was played at Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris. The tournament number three seed, betrayed emotion after the game, crying and displaying the photography of her late coach.
She had on Thursday in the group stage beaten Kaur 21-8 21-14 in a Group B match, while she followed up with another group win on Friday. Then she beat Celine Vinot of Australia 21-8 21-14 also to win the group and head into the last eight stage.
Para-badminton: Why Bolaji lost to Zuxian Xiao – Sports Minister
Meanwhile, the Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, after the match, said Bolaji lost to Xiao due to inexperience.
“I watched the game from the start, we are all very disappointed that she lost because she appeared to be better than her opponent.
“She lost the game herself, maybe due to her first Olympic experience and the stake is high. But in all, she did well and we hope she can pick up the bronze in the third place match,” Enoh said.
TNG reports Bolaji will return to the court on Monday, facing Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna in the Bronze medal match. Oksana lost to Synakuroh Ikhtiar of India 2-0 in her own semifinal match.