With most of his matches in the just concluded ITTF World Junior Championship being against Asian players, Nigeria’s Tobi Falana has admitted that the speed and techniques of Asians overwhelmed them in the competition.
Falana who was one of the most outstanding Nigerian players in the competition told NationSport that attending the competition has made him to see table tennis from another dimension.
“I feel great making my debut in an international tournament for Nigeria. It was indeed a good experience for me and an eye-opener as well. We are as skillful as other players but the speed and techniques of the Asian players were just too much for us. We cannot match their speed on table. They were too fast for us and their style of play was not too comfortable to us,” he said.
The Kwara State-born athlete, described the experience in South Africa as an added advantage to him. “Playing in this kind of championship was awesome because I gained valuable experience on how to play table tennis better than what we were used to in Nigeria. I think our lack of exposure also affected our performance because most of these players have featured in more tournaments this year before coming to South Africa. For us, this is our first major competition internationally this year. Also our confidence has improved having featured in the competition and we hope we can do better in subsequent competitions,” Falana added.
He, however, lamented the need to work on their service and receiving as this affected them in most of their matches. “My dream as a table tennis player is to create a new record that nobody has ever made. But I also know that we need to work on our back-hand as well as service and receiving. Generally, I gained more confidence and I played well against some top players in the championship,” Falana said.
Tag: ITTF World Junior Championships
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ITTF World Junior Championships Fallout: The Asians outplayed us, Falana admits
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We were nervous against Belgium, admit Akanbi, Falana
After having their first taste of action at the ongoing ITTF World Junior Championships, Nigeria’s duo of Rilwan Akanbi and Tobi Falana have blamed their loss to Belgium on stage-fright.
Despite having an upper hand against Belgium’s Florian Cnudde in his 3-0
loss, a disappointed Akanbi told NationSport that he was a bit nervous
throughout the encounter. I did not just know what happened because in the
match, I led thrice before surrendering to my opponent. It was a painful loss in my first international match. But I hope I can do well in my subsequent matches because I am getting used to the competition and I believe if I had another encounter against him again, I will surely defeat him,” Akanbi
stated.
Like Akanbi, Falana was more upset, as he dominated the matches by long margins before losing 3-0 to Laurens Devos.
The Kwara State-born player told NationSport that he believes he can rub
shoulders with the best but his first game was not impressive. “I am not too happy that when I was leading 5-1 and 7-4 in the first two games, unfortunately I was in a hurry to finish up the match and I started making unforced errors, which eventually cost me the match. I am sure that this
was just the first match and I will keep improving with each match,” Falana
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ITTF lists Nigeria, others for World Junior Championships
The world table tennis ruling body – International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has confirmed Nigeria and 26 others for this year’s World Junior Championships holding in Cape Town, South Africa.
In the list of participating countries released by ITTF for the tournament scheduled for November 30 to December 7, Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria including host – South Africa would represent Africa at the eight-day championships.
Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt will present boys’ and girls’ teams, while Tunisia will have its boys’ team with Algeria presenting its girls’ team for the competition.
Nigeria’s qualification was made possible following its performance at the last African Junior Championships held in Algiers, where the team finished second behind Egypt in the team events of the competition.
At the World Junior Championship, Nigeria will compete in the team, doubles and singles events for laurels.
Meanwhile, the Tournament Director of the championship, Joe Carrim, has said that everything have been put in place to make the competition exciting for teams.The GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World will host the eight-day championship and the venue is the largest entertainment destination of its kind in South Africa. The only casino in Cape Town, it is a wonderland of around-the-clock entertainment, with all the thrills and excitement of a Las Vegas-scale casino. It is a family-friendly destination that offers the biggest selection of kids’ entertainment and fun activities in Cape Town, from ice-skating to ten-pin bowling all under one roof.
Explaining the readiness for the championship, Joe Carrim said: “The venue is ideal for the Sun International 2016 ITTF World Junior Table Tennis Championship. All venues related equipment is in place and we await delivery of the floor tables and balls. The promotional programme gas taken off with weekly radio interviews by players and local organisers in the city of Cape Town.”
He added: “The GrandWest Casino and entertainment provides a host of entertainment programmes and frequented by young and old. We expect the profile of our sport and our organisation to lift in the eyes of the public and government alike so that we work towards the establishment of a national semi professional circuit sponsored by the private sector.”
Already, 96 boys and 96 girls have been listed to slug it out in the individual events of the competition.
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ITTF World: Animasahun, Oribamise lead others tocamp
National junior sensations – Abayomi Animasahun and Tosin Oribamise will lead 18 others to the National Training Centre of the Lagos National Stadium for the camping ahead of the International Table Tennis Federation {ITTF} World Junior Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.
Under the tutelage of seven-time Olympian, Segun Toriola, the players will be groomed in readiness for the world championship while the 10-man team will also be selected at the end of the camping on September 3.
Some of the invited players were part of the team that featured at the ITTF African Junior Championship in Algiers where they qualified for the World Juniors, while outstanding players from the National U-16 tournament also made it to the camp.
According to the President, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi, the camping is necessary as some of the players would gain from the experience of Toriola, who has been celebrated globally for his consistency and discipline in the sport.
“We are blessed with talents just like Aruna Quadri and we don’t want to lose the momentum by ensuring that we come through with our programmes. This camping becomes necessary as we want to select the best hands among the junior players so that they can also test might with their foreign counterparts at the world juniors. With the experience of Toriola and Michael Oyebode, who were both in Rio Olympic Games, I am confident that camping would have impart on the players and prepare them for the championship,” Oshodi said.
He added: “The selected players will later go into close camping before the championship in November and they will continue to train in readiness for the competition. Toriola will surely depart to his base after the camping and we hope the coaches around can continue to sharpen the skills of the players before the tournament which has Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia representing Africa in Cape Town, South Africa.”
The invited players are Abayomi Animasahun, Azeez Solanke, Amadi Umeh, Michael Abayomi, Augustine Emmanuel, Jamiu Ayanwale, Ololade Oyenekan, Tobi Falana, Etim Orok, Babafemi Babatunde and Umar Ibrahim for boys and the girls include Tosin Oribamise Agnes Onoja, Ajoke Ojomu, Alimot Ayinla, Rofiat Jimoh, Iyanuoluwa Falana, Vivian Akpan and Sukurat Aiyelabegan.
NTTF will cater for the players’ feeding and accommodation while their states are expected to offset their transport fare.