Sango-Ota in Ogun State, will come alive with exciting table tennis actions between September 16 and 21 as the maiden edition of the TJ’s National Open Table Tennis Championship takes centre stage.
The championship which has been approved by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) and sponsored by TJ Hotel and Suites, will see teams from across the country slugging it out for the N1 million prize money.
The Competition Manager, Mr. Kabril Ajibose, spoke on the organisers’ readiness to ensure a perfect hosting in order to complement the efforts of the NTTF president Mr. Wahid Oshodi. According to Ajibose, “There is a noticeable decline in Nigerian table tennis since the turn of the century and this can be attributed to various reasons and prominent among them is lack of regular competition as well as a sound developmental programme that allows for early discovery of talents.
“We have included the Under-13 (Cadet) boys and girls category and we believe that with more competition and a catch-them-young approach, the future can be bright again.” Ajibose also decried the low level of support the sport is receiving in the country. He called on the table tennis federation and other sports stakeholders to rise up to revitalise the sport in the country through national championships of this nature and other development programmes aimed improving the game.
Source: This Day.
“Gone were the days when we used to have the Bournvita Top-16 Classics and even the Coca Cola International Classics as well. We had Nigerian players among the Top 50 in the world, but now the story has changed. We are not even number one in Africa again. This is a very strong indication that a lot has gone wrong.
He said that it was this development that informed the need to do something very urgently to arrest the downward slide.
The tournament will feature players in Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Cadet (Under-13) Boys and Girls with the top 16 in each category going home with cash prizes.
