Lack Of Tennis Championship Worries Coach

The table tennis coach in
Anambra State, Bonifa-ce Akunna, has lamented the increasing unpopularity of the game in the state and the entire South East zone.
Akunna told newsmen in Awka  that the zone, which produced some of the finest players for the country in the 1980s and 1990s, no longer staged championships as was the case in his playing days.
“Unless there are concerted efforts by wealthy individuals and corporate organisations to bankroll the game, the future of the sport in the zone will not be guaranteed,’’ the coach said.
Akunna acknowledged that there were still abundant talents around the area, saying they could be trained to ‘find fame and fortune from the sport’.
He also noted that there were no standard facilities for the game such as indoor facilities, stressing that most of the equipment were improvised and did not meet international standards.
The coach recalled how championships sponsored by Coscharis and Elephant Cement Coy provided opportunities for some players to grow in the sport.
“Table tennis has been more or less abandoned; no major competitions in Anambra or anywhere around in the past five years. We must revive the game and save it from dying.
“It is not enough to wait until national competitions before exposing players to the sport.  At times we don’t attend table tennis championships like the Ojeaga recently held in Lagos,” he said.
Akunna, however, said that hope was not lost as table tennis could be revived by former practitioners blessed in wealth.