As the 49th Asoju Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Table Tennis Cup enters crucial stage, the title contenders have started talking tough with the aim of making it to the podium during the grand finale of the tournament.
From 2015 semifinalist – Azeez Jamiu to former champion, Olaide Atinuke, the title will surely go to the wire with most of the seeded players already getting easy passage to the last 32.
Jamiu, who had won the cadet and junior titles of the competitions at several occasions, is surely aiming to add the senior gong to his laurels.
“Before I travelled out of Nigeria, I had been featuring in the tournament and I won the cadet and junior titles but the only title eluding me is the senior title. I was beaten in the semifinal of the 2015 edition while I was not available during last year’s edition. But this year, I am fully ready and I must also admit that there are lot of good players but I will surely try my best not to miss out from the highest award this year,” Jamiu said.
Over 336 players are competing in the cadet, junior and senior events of the tournament with 138 senior, 134 junior and 74 cadet players jostling for honours in the 22 titles at stake.
According to John Peters, who has been part of the tournament since its inception in 1968, this year witnessed large turnout compared to 2016 edition.
The respected table tennis umpire said: “I must tell you that the enthusiasms among the players have continued to make the players to always itching to be part of the championship. This also attested to the fact this development has helped to increase the number of participants annually. Also the standard every year has improved and we hope we can continue to sustain this for the subsequent editions,” Peters said.