Winners emerge as ITTF Africa Western Region Championships end today

Four finals of the men and women’s singles, men and women’s doubles will be decided at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, as the ITTF Africa Western Africa Region Championships ends today.

Host, Nigeria; Ghana, Liberia, Benin Republic, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire have been slugging it out in the four-day challenge, which enters its climax with more winners expected to emerge in the finals of the four events slated for today.

Nigeria’s hopefuls, Samuel Boboye, Azeez Ogunlade, Rilwan Akanbi and August Emmanuel have shown why they are the players to beat at the championships.

Earlier, the men singles’ defending champion, Cote d’Ivoire’s Oba Oba Kizito lost twice to Nigeria’s Samuel Boboye in the team and group matches of the men’s singles but still insists that he is not losing any hope of retaining the title he won at the last edition.

“I know what to do when it matters most. That I lost in the team and group matches hold no water for me; I am still hoping to retain my title,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Wahid Enitan Oshodi, has said that the competition has been a huge success with the support of the Lagos State government through the Lagos State Sports Commission and also the Baba Ijebu Bet, the major sponsor of the championships.

“We will continue to raise the bar in terms of hosting a major event and this would not have been possible without the support of Lagos State, Baba Ijebu Bet as well as Prime Atlantic and Delanyard, who have remained committed to table tennis.

“We are happy that the players came and they enjoyed themselves under good condition. From what I have seen so far, the future is bright for the region, but we should not relent in our efforts to continue to support these athletes in their quest to become world-beaters,” Oshodi said.