The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) is organizing the maiden national women singles open championship in Lagos.
The event is billed to hold at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos from June 27 to 29, 2019.
Players are expected to arrive in Lagos on Thursday, June 27 for the two-day tournament which is open to players across and outside the country.
According to the organisers, participating players are to have a valid NTTF License in order to claim the over N600,000 stakes as prize money.
The Secretary General of NTTF, James Eakyns, said there has been a downward slide in the fortune of female players in the country adding that this has been reflected in their performance at various tournaments.
“We realized that our females are not doing well in major competitions and their performance have not been impressive in recent times and that is why the board led by its president, Ishaku Tikon, decided to stage the tournament so that we can identify some of them we can groom to become world beaters,” he said.
The tournament, according to NTTF, would serve as selection of team for major events. The winner will cart home N200,000 while the top 16 players will be rewarded for their efforts in the competition.
According to the NTTF boss, “The first step is to identify the talented ones among them before exposing them to world class coaching and tournaments.
“We are expecting players at junior and senior levels to be part of the competition and we will ensure that the identified ones are groomed to become world beaters just like their male counterparts.”
