Kazeem Badmus
THE Vice President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Dr Tayo Adesoji, has disclosed that the annual Michael and Felicia Memorial Table Tennis tournament in Osun would be enlisted and upgraded as national competition from 2023.
Adesoji disclosed this during the final of the second edition of the competition held at Otan-Ayegbaju where 250 table tennis players from 17 states competed for trophy and other prizes, including cash.
The competition was soley sponsored by Chairman, Osun state Table Tennis Association, Ayo Alabi, as part of initiatives to encourage youths to develop interest in sports and divert them from engaging in criminal activities.
The week-long event attracted sport lovers from different parts of the country.
Alabi said raw talents in table tennis discovered from the competition would be nurtured to international level to become successful and useful.
At the end of the final, Omeh Amadi from Ondo State emerged winner, having defeated Solanka Azeez from Delta State.
In the final of the women single, Esther Tosin Oribamise from Delta State defeated Hussain Alimat from Oyo State to emerge the winner.
The winners for trophy received N125,000 each while the second position got N100,000.
Also, all the 250 players received cash prize for their participation in the competition.
Adesoji said the Otan table tennis tournament would provide opportunity for player to earn points.
He expressed delight over the large turnout of players and spectators for the game.
He said one of the cardinal points of the current NTTF administration was to encourage grassroots development.
Adesoji said: “Seeing a beautiful competition like this gladdens my heart. For a competition to have 250 players from 17 states and being solely sponsored by an individual, I promised to ensure that the completion is listed on the programme of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) in 2023.
“The apparatus that makes a competition complete for NTTF would also be made available here so that this competition would be of standard that is expected of international table tennis competition.
“As an individual, I am going to donate another table tennis board to Osun State Table Tennis Association.
