Omotayo unfazed by presence of top players at ITTF Open
With the input from the famous Aruna Quadri, Italy-based Nigerian youngster, Olajide Omotayo is growing in confidence ahead of the 2017 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Nigeria Open ‘Lagos 2017’ which serves off on August 9.
As an outsider, Olajide Omotayo fought his way from the preliminary of the 2017 World Championships in Dusseldorf to berth in the first round of the men’s singles.
His performance against Romania’s Cristian Pletea showed the worth of the Nigerian whose display in recent time has given the West African nation something to hope for in the game.
With regular training in Lagos in the last two months, coupled with input from Aruna Quadri, Olajide Omotayo is eagerly looking forward to the Nigeria Open with a lot of optimism.
“I am in good form at present because I have been training very well after the world championship. I have not missed my training in the last two months while I increased my schedule with training and pep talk from Aruna Quadri.
“Prior to this, I train every day apart from weekend with my doubles partner, Ojo Onaolapo. All these have given me hope that I am going to achieve something from the Nigeria Open this year,” he said.
Despite the presence of top stars, Olajide Omotayo however, acknowledged the qualities of Li Ping, Aruna Quadri, Omar Assar and Benedek Olah, but believes he can surprise many in Lagos.
“I must respect the top four players in this competition because they are world class but in table tennis anything is possible. So I am looking forward to qualifying from the preliminary to the main draw, which I believe is possible,” he said.