ADESOKAN Dorcas Ajoke

General
EDUCATION FIRST
She withdrew from the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in order to complete the final exam for her degree in business administration and management at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Nigeria. "I had to take the most painful decision in 2015 when I dropped out of the African Games team to write my final exam. It would have been my first African Games. I wept but had no other choice. I made a lot of sacrifices to combine education with playing badminton. There is life after sports. I am also planning to further my education, one can't be in sports forever." (bwfbadminton.com, 14 Jun 2020; dailytrust.com, 06 Jun 2020)

EARLY DAYS
She says her father was initially against her decision to pursue a career in sport. "It was not easy to convince my parents especially my dad to allow me to go into sports. Based on the stories he must have heard, he was afraid that I would become a bad girl. So it was not easy to convince him that nothing like that would happen. I give thanks to my mother who stood by me. My mum supported me and went as far as saying that she should be held responsible, if I got pregnant or I brought shame to the family. At that point, I received my father's blessing to play badminton." (bwfbadminton.com, 14 Jun 2020; dailytrust.com, 06 Jun 2020)