Tag: table tennis

To attract more players to this year’s Reach Out Nigeria (RON) Open Championship, organisers have increased the prize money to N3million.

According to the coordinator of the tournament, Ayo Olufemi, the prize money has been raised by 50 percent in order to encourage more players within and outside the country to be part of the one-week tournament holding next week in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

“We actually started the competition at local level in Uyo with initial prize money of N1million but last year we increased it to N2million and this year, we are staking N3million for all the top three players in the 10 events to be competed during the competition. For us, this is a community development project of Uyo branch of Christ Embassy and we will continue to add innovation every year,” he said.

Olufemi, however, said that the tournament most times coincides with the annual Reach Out Nigeria Campaign, an initiative of Love World Ministry to celebrate Nigeria’s Independence anniversary.

“With the RON tournament, table tennis is fast becoming a bride to sponsors as most of the players that had featured in the competition are now national champions. For us, this is a way to touch lives positively across the country and another avenue by the church to affect the lives of others,” he added.

For the International umpire, John Peters, this year’s tournament hopes to be better organised, as the experience garnered during the Lagos Classics would be handy for the officials.

Peters, however, assured that age-cheat among the players would be taken serious by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) as thorough screening would be carried out among the junior players.

Meanwhile, champion and runner’s up at the first Lagos International Table Tennis Classics, Cecilia Otu-Akpan and Edem Offiong have confirmed their participation in the tournament.

The players who are at present shaping up for the competition in Calabar are hoping to reenact their form that aided their success at the Lagos Classics. Southpaw Seun Ajetunmobi and Offiong are defending champions in the men and women singles events.

LAGOS STATE TABLE TENNIS CLASSICS

•Edem plays Otu-Akpan in women’s final

It promises to be a stiff contest in the men’s singles final of the Lagos International Table Tennis Classics ongoing at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, as Nigeria’s foremost star, Segun Toriola takes on Africa’s current men’s champion Omar Assar today.

The women’s singles final will however be an all-Nigeria affair as Effiong Edem sets up compatriot, Cecilia Otu-Akpan.

Toriola defeatead home boy, Kazeem Makanjuoala, 11-3, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9, to win 4-2, while Omar Assar pummeled Congo Brazaveille’s Nigerian import, Saka Suraju, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, to win 4-1.

In the women’s final, Cecilia Out-Akpan showed why she should be reconsidered for a return to the national team as she defeated Congo Brazavielle’s Chinese import, Han Xing 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 4-11 to win 4-2, while Nigeria’s Edem went past Germany-based Funke Oshonaike 11-4, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6.

Otu-Akpan said after the victory: “I trained hard for this tournament and I knew I had to be at my best to beat the best player in the competition.

“When I knew I was going to face Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing, I ensured I did not allow her to dictate the pace even when it was obvious that she was the only player that had been giving my compatriot, Edem Offiong a tough challenge; I was determined to stop her. I was aware that most players used to be scared of her serve but today, I gave her the solution to her serve.

“For me, I am happy that my dream of becoming the champion is getting closer. In the final, I look forward to a good result.”

Meanwhile, despite travelling from far, Congo Brazzaville’s duo of Saka Suraju and Han Xing nearly broke the hearts of Nigerian fans in the mixed doubles event of the first Lagos International Table Tennis Classics. Their efforts however came to nought as Nigeria’s pair of Segun Toriola and Edem Offiong turned the table against the Congolese before animated fans at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

The Congolese accounted for the exit of Nigerian players on their way to the final, but they met a stiff opposition when they confronted Toriola and Offiong in the final watched by officials of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) led by its president, Egypt’s Khaled El-Salhy. To claim the title in the event, the Nigerians won 11-2, 10-12, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9 to the admiration of the fans.

Also in the women’s doubles, Nigeria’s duo of Offiong and Cecilia Otu-Akpan overcame the Congolese pair of Xing and Onyiyechi Nwachukwu 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7 to claim the laurel in the event.

In the junior’s mixed doubles, Nigeria dominated the event with the pair of Azeez Ogunlade and Ayo Udo to beat Bolaji Shobayo and Bose Odusanya 11-9, 11-3, 6-11, 11-7, while in the girls’ Odusanya and Onyiyechi Mba defeated Esther Tosin Oribamise and Agnes Onoja 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6.

Speaking after the victory against the Congolese, Toriola said he never doubted their ability to beat their opponents, although “the match was expected to be tough.”

“I am happy that we did not disappoint the fans and we never doubted our ability as we knew our opponents very well. We just needed to calm the game and allow them to make their mistakes by capitalising on this.

“My partner and I knew ourselves very well even when it seemed we were lossing, we never gave up as we continued to dig deep. But we thank God that we won,” Toriola said.

Lagos International Table Tennis Classics 

• Knockout stage begins 

After the conclusion of the group matches in the men and women singles of the first Lagos International Table Tennis Classics, the stage is now set for the knockout matches today.

Yesterday,the number one seed in the mixed doubles, Egypt’s Omar Assar and Nigeria’s Funke Oshonaike were shown the exit in the event by the Nigerian duo of Olaide Atinuke and Seun Ajetunmobi.

In the group matches, each player played three matches with the top two players in each group progressing to the round of 32 in the men’s singles, while the top two players in the women’s singles advanced to the round of 16. The men’s singles had 16 groups while the women’s singles had eight.

In the singles, all the seeded players made it to the knockout stage, while the two upsets recorded in the group matches were recorded by Nigeria’s Sola Oyetayo and Bose Odusanya, who defeated seeded players like Mihai Bobocica and Rashidat Ogundele.

Despite losing a match each, Bobocica and Ogundele progressed to the next stage of the tournament.

However, Africa’s number one player, Egypt’s Assar could not make headway in the mixed doubles as her pairing with Nigeria’s Oshonaike met their waterloo losing 2-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 to exit the event.

The players that advanced to the knockout stage in the women’s singles were dominated by Nigerian players while Congo Brazzaville duo of Han Xing and Onyiyechi Nwachukwu as well as Congo DRC’s Ammadine Litobaka also booked their places in the round of 16.

The Nigerian players that secured their spots are Funke Oshonaike, Halimat Hussain, Itoro Akpan, Ganiyat Olatunde, Cecilia Otu-Akpan, Janet Effiom, Taiwo Williams, Ganiyat Ogundele, Olaide Atinuke, Rashidat Ogundele and Tolu Durosimi-Etti.

In the men’s singles, all the top seeds like Egypt’s Assar, Italy’s Bobocica, Nigeria’s Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri, Seun Ajetunmobi, Ojo Onaolapo, Kayode Adedeji and Sola Oyetayo among others will play in the round of 32 knockout matches.

Lagos International Table Tennis Classics

The Molade Okoya-aHall of Teslim Balogun Stadium,Lagos will today come alive as Nigerian players begin hostilities in the qualifiers for places in the main draw of the maiden Lagos International Table Tennis Classics.

According to the Competition Manager, John Peters, 128 players will compete in the men’s qualifiers, while 48 will jostle for spots in the women event.

To ensure that the participating players have equal chance to make it to the main draw, the players in the men’s singles event have been drawn into 32 groups made up of four players in each group. The players with the highest point in each group will secure a place in the main draw.

“We want to ensure that the best players make it to the main draw; all the players in the group will play each other with the player with the highest point making it to the main draw. This will also apply to the women and junior events. But in the women event, the groups are 16, while we also have 16 in the boys’ junior while girls’ junior have eight groups,” he said.

More than 20 states will take part in the qualifiers, while over 10 clubs will also be part of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Main Organising Committee (MOC) has confirmed that 16 countries will be part of the championship with the main draw serving off on August 26.

With South Africa being the last nation to register for the tournament, the MOC listed others as Chinese Taipei, Cameroun, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Lithuania, Senegal, Tunisia and Italy, while South Africa’s flag will be flown by Luke Abraham.

The MOC also listed 32 players for the main draw in the men’s singles, while 16 were listed in the women’s singles. In he boys’ junior main draw, 16 players were listed, while eight were listed in the girls’ single junior event.

The ITTF-approved tournament is the highest prize money tournament to be staged in Africa and it is organised by the MOC of the Lagos International Sports Classics in collaboration with the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF).