NTTF Set For World Championship

The national table
tennis coach, Nasiru Bello, has said the country’s junior team would use the annual Asoju-Oba Table Tennis Championships to prepare for this year’s World Youth Championships.
The Asoju-Oba championships kicked off last Sunday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Bello said that the junior players’ participation would help to adequately prepare them for the world championships holding from December 1 to 8 in Rabat, Morocco.
“The Asoju-Oba tournament is a highly-rated competition which attracts skilled national and international players. So, we want to take the advantage to evaluate our training so far.
“It will also give us the opportunity to tidy up our preparations and put the players in a competition mood, which will enhance their chances at the World Championships,’’ he said.
Bello said the team, which has four male and four female players, secured their qualification tickets to the world championships after a victorious outing at the continental qualifiers in Tunisia.
“We went to Tunisia and qualified. But the task ahead of us is not only to fly the country’s flag in Morocco, but to win laurels from various events at the World Championships,’’ he said.
The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) official said the team’s players have the experience to triumph.
“Many of them have international exposure through their participation in continental and inter-continental tournaments,’’ he said.