Three teams from neighbouring West African countries; Ghana, Togo, and Benin Republic will compete for honours against 26 Nigerian teams as the maiden Mixed Team Table Tennis Championships begin, today, Thursday, October 31 and end Saturday, November 2.
The 3-day ping-pong championship sponsored by the SAIL Empowerment Foundation, an initiative of Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru and his wife, Mrs. Feyisola, would witness no fewer than 159 players in both male and female categories display action at the Molade Okoya-Thomas indoor hall inside Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Speaking yesterday in Lagos at the press briefing, the senator who was represented by his media aide, Enitan Olukotun, highlighted the significance of the tournament, describing it as a platform for athletes to showcase their talents.
“The resourcefulness, creativity and innovation of our young people should be well financed and how we can do this is for us to create what we call a thriving and enabling environment for our young people to express their potential and creativity to the work and that seems to be what we are doing,” he said.
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The senator welcomed the shortlisted players from the neighbouring African countries, envisioning the competitiveness during the tournament.
“This marks another important milestone in the history of professional table tennis tournaments in Nigeria. We are making history and blazing the trail with this first mixed table tennis championship ever held in Africa,” he said.