‘Senator Abiru Mixed Team Table Tennis Championship will reveal new stars’

Nigeria’s efforts to find replacements for tennis stars like Haruna  Quadri, Funke Oshonaike, and the rest will receive a boost as the maiden Senator Abiru Mixed Team Table Tennis Championship got underway, yesterday.

The President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) Enitan Oshodi, who disclosed this at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, emphasised the tournament’s role in discovering new talents and familiarising players with the new tournament format in Africa.

Teams from Togo, Benin Republic, and other neighbouring countries are competing against 26 Nigerian sides in the championship.

Speaking at the unveiling of the event on Wednesday, Oshodi, an executive vice president at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), commended Senator Abiru for supporting table tennis and encouraged other Nigerians to empower youth through sports.

Sponsored by the SAIL Empowerment Foundation, an initiative of Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, and his wife, Feyisola, the championship is Africa’s first Mixed Team Table Tennis Open Championships. It is part of the Foundation’s youth empowerment program.

Represented at the unveiling of the programme by his media aide, Enitan Olukotun, Senator Abiru highlighted the significance of the tournament thus: “Today’s event 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.”

The Senator praised the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) for their efforts in making the tournament a reality and reaffirmed the SAIL Empowerment Foundation’s commitment to youth empowerment through such events.

Speaking on the significance of the championship, Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Lekan Fatodu, expressed pride in Lagos hosting the first mixed team tournament in Africa, which, he said, reinforces the city’s status as a leading sports hub on the continent.
“We are excited that Lagos continues to pioneer several sporting events. With this mixed team tournament, we have shown that we are a leading sports city in Africa,” he said.

The tournament will feature 28 teams, divided into eight groups of three or four teams each. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage. The finals are scheduled for tomorrow, starting from 2.00 p.m.