The Chairman Teqball Association in Ogun State, Alhaji Lawal Adeoye Waheed, has expressed optimism about the chances of the sport when eventually incorporated as a medal-awarding sport into the National Sports Festival(NSF).
Teqball is a ball sport that is played on a curved table, combining elements of football and table tennis. It will enjoy its second demonstration tournament at the ongoing Gateway Games, having initially been tested at the last NSF in Delta.
Speaking on the progress and preparations for the games, Waheed said all stones were not left unturned in making a good preparation to have an itch-free second demonstration by moving the venue to Ikenne, where all the participants were camped, as opposed to the initial arrangement of staging it inside MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta.
“I am sure that Ogun State will dominate the game if it’s eventually incorporated as a medal-awarding sport at the festival because we have good coaches and a good organizational system here that aids the progress of the game,” said Waheed, who is also Chairman Ogun State Chapter of YSFON and President of Abeokuta All-Stars.
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His added: “Teqball started in Hungary in 2014, and since then we have been trying to make it popular among our youths. We received our first sets of two Teqball tables in Ogun State in 2020, and we placed one inside the MKO Sports Arena and the other one at Muda Lawal Stadium Asero.”
“We participated in the demonstration tourney held during that last NSF in Delta State, and coming back home, we have organized like two tournaments here in Ogun to discover talents and create awareness for the game, but we’re looking forward to acquiring more Teqball tables, between five and ten, that we’re going to distribute to secondary schools and tertiary institutions within the state in order to grow the game rapidly and create better awareness for it.”
He added that Teqball is like a combination of football and table tennis; the only difference is that you use some part of the body to play it except your arms and hands; hence, footballers are more into it.
Speaking on the number of athletes playing it in Ogun, he stated that the Teqball Association in Ogun has more than 12 athletes playing the game professionally, while they also have numerous people at the amateur level who are in the learning stage.
Many of these amateur players are enthusiastic about mastering the sport, participating in local tournaments, and honing their skills. As interest in Teqball grows, the association aims to host workshops and events to further promote the game throughout the State.