90 Nigerians, 127 others jostle for $46,000 Nigeria Open prize
Atotal of 90 Nigerian tennis players, among them 42 seeded stars in different categories and 127 tennis players from 26 countries will today begin to compete for the $46,000 prize money in six events at the fiveday International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Challenge Seamaster Nigeria Open. The competition, which has become Africa’s elite tournament approved by the world table tennis ruling body, will be held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
At the press briefing to herald the commencement of the championship, the Tournament Director, Kweku Tandoh, described this year’s tournament as the biggest so far, with the quality of organization, players across the globe now willing to be part of the annual championship.
“We are so excited that the tournament is growing each year and this year we have more countries and players and for us, this goes to show that we are rising and we will continue to do that as long as we are getting the needed support particularly the huge support from our title sponsor Baba Ijebu and host - Lagos State Government. Everything is set and for the next five days, people will watch the best of table tennis made in Lagos,” Tandoh said.
The Competition Manager, Mounir Bessah, lauded the LOC for always adding colour to the tournament while hoping that more players would be willing to be part of it in future.
“I am happy with the organization and ITTF believes the LOC has done a lot to raise the profile of this tournament and I can see improvement every year,” Bessah added.
Ishaku Tikon, President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), commended the host state for putting Nigeria on the global map by providing the platform for the tournament to thrive.
Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has promised to give cash bonuses to Nigerians participating in the tournament as encouraging them.
“This year, Governor Ambode, the host Governor has instituted a bonus for Nigerian players that will do well in all categories including the men and women singles because we know that they may not get to win the titles.
Bank-Anthony also said, “We will make use of the bonus wisely a way of to encourage Nigerian players to go further and we believe that this will help them to at least improve and perform better,” the DirectorGeneral of Lagos State Sports Commission, Babatunde BankAnthony announced.
From the inception of the Nigeria Open, no Nigerian player has won the title in the singles events but assurance from Olajide Omotayo and Esther Oribamise has shown that the Nigerian team will not disappoint this year.
Omotayo believes with the present form of some of the players, they are ready to wrestle the titles from the foreigners.
“We are all ready for the tournament this year because we have the quality to match the foreigners and I am hopeful that we will give our best and hope for the best. The likes of Aruna Quadri, Bode Abiodun and Segun Toriola have always inspired us that we can be the best in the game. We are fully ready to see Nigerian players on the podium this year,” he said.
Oribamise, a bronze medalist at the 3rd African Youth Games in Algiers is optimistic that things would look up for Nigerian players this year.
“We are all in good shape and I can tell you that all of us know what is at stake. Apart from the prize money we are also aiming to improve our ranking with this tournament,” Oribamise also said.