Athlete Tasks Philanthropists On Improved Standard

A deaf table tennis player, Ismaila Adeniran has appealed to philanthropists to assist special athletes to participate in international competitions, to improve their standard.

Adeniran, who is Nigeria’s number one ranked player, spoke with newsmen in Lagos, ahead of the 2014 West Africa Deaflympic Championships.

He said that exposing players to competitions would help them technically, adding that the national players needed to learn from the experience of other players.

“I am pleading with philanthropists to assist us to attend international competitions because we lack exposure.

“This was evident in our outing at the 2013 Deaflympic Games in Bulgaria.

“We competed with players that were exposed; they had seen it all because they had a lot of programmes that assisted them.

“We did not know about the new techniques,’’ he said.

Adeniran also appealed to the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) to include special athletes in competitions like the Lagos Classics, adding that there were many talents among the deaf players.

“I want NTTF to help us in the area of competitions because without competitions, we tend to feel that we are being downgraded.

“Some people think because we are deaf, we will not be able to make our country proud; we have the ability to think.

“We can see, we can also move our hands, so, I see no reason why we should not be given a chance,’’ he stated.

Adeniran, however, decried the lack of facilities for the Deaflympic games, saying that he realised that Nigeria did not have the requisite facilities during the 2013 Deaflympic Games.