Tikon explains decision to camp with players in Lagos

Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) President, Ishaku Tikon, is thrilled at the forthcoming three-tier International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) events slated for the Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos from May 19 to 28.

The competitions held in Lagos are the 2022 World Championships regional qualification, African Club Championships and African Cup.

Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Tikon said all necessary logistics are being put in place to make the championships a huge success, adding that athletes are already in camp, sweating it out to make the cut as the country’s representatives.

“I am personally here at the Table Tennis section of the National Stadium with the players, who are currently participating in the trials to pick the country’s representatives. That will tell you how prepared we are.

“If I, the president, will come to sit with the athletes to monitor and watch the trials, then you should know how serious and committed we are to the ITTF events.

“For the trials, we have Team A and Team B in case of injury to any player that will eventually be picked to represent the country. The essence of the plan Team B is that whomever we choose to replace an injured player is also capable of representing the country.

“Every African country taking part in table tennis is expected to be here because it is an ITTF ranking event. Last year, we were all in Cameroun and in the same way, everybody will converge also in Nigeria. African’s top ranked athletes like Quadri Aruna and others are expected to be at the championships,” he said.

Tikon assured table tennis fans that Nigeria would host a successful tournament, saying, “they should expect fireworks during the championships. That is what I am expecting and the fans too should expect the best of table tennis,” he stated.