A TABLE tennis player who has overcome huge odds to play at international level is taking part in fundraising events to help Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Nigerian-born Oye Jemiyo has been in a wheelchair since he was two after contracting polio.

He took up table tennis in 1996, aged 19, at Eccleshill Sports Centre, learning from renowned coach Hans Soova.

Training at at Nab Wood Sports Centre, Oakbank School and Bradford Girls' Grammar School, he has won many medals for Great Britain over the years in national disabled events.

In 2019 Oye had to have a shoulder replacement. “I play left-handed because this has always been my stronger arm due to my disability, but due to several shoulder injuries, repairs and steroid injections into the joint over almost two decades, I was left with no other option but to have a replacement,” he says.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Oye Jemiyo with other players at the charity event Oye Jemiyo with other players at the charity event (Image: submitted)

He has since had a further operation and was advised by his consultant that he should give up playing competitively and consider coaching instead.

“This was disappointing but I wasn't going to give up just like that,” he says.

Oye began playing table tennis to raise funds for Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) in 2018. Earlier this year he took part in a 12-hour table tennis fundraiser for YAA in the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds. He is helped at events by his coach and a practise partner.

His most recent event was in Bradford’s Broadway shopping centre, where almost £1,100 was raised. “We call the fundraising events Ping-Pong Fun-Athon, where shoppers can have a practice or a match with me and I do exhibition of my skills with my coach and/or practise partner and we raise a lot of money for a very good cause,” says Oye.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Oye at the charity fundraiser for Yorkshire Air AmbulanceOye at the charity fundraiser for Yorkshire Air Ambulance (Image: submitted)

Last year Oye suffered a personal loss when his beloved mum died, having had a stroke nine months previously. “Mum was my number one supporter in my sport. We were so close, an unbreakable bond - she was my rock, my angel, my everything.”

Oye began full-time practise and training again in February by employing a coach for table tennis and a personal trainer for fitness and conditioning. He competed in a grand prix tournament at English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield in June and was thrilled to win gold in the open and silver in Class 1-2 singles.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Oye, left, playing in The BroadwayOye, left, playing in The Broadway (Image: submitted)

“The hard work is paying off and my shoulder is so much better with the gym work I do with my personal trainer,” he says. “After my success at the grand prix tournament, I was invited to a training weekend with the GB Para Pathway athletes. It seems like the beginning of something good, which I have been working towards.”

He adds: “My plan is to keep myself as fit as possible with gym sessions with my personal trainer twice a week and also attend free sessions, then continue my one-to-one table tennis practise session with my coach once a week and practise with fellow wheelchair colleagues.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Oye Jemiyo Oye Jemiyo

“I will attend any GB Pathway training camps to which I am invited and hopefully reach the finals of our national championship in September 2022.

“My goal is to impress the GB coaches and selectors so that I can be part of the GB Para Table Tennis Team again, after which I can start eyeing international tournaments.”