LAGOS – Onaolapo Ojo, a national table tennis player, on Wednesday appealed to the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) to organise more competitions in the country.
Ojo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that participation in national and international competitions would help players to sharpen their skills.
”More competitions in the country will go a long way in helping players get better and improve their skills.
”In the process of participating in competitions, players will discover areas where they are weak and strive to improve on them,’’ he said.[eap_ad_2]
Ojo said that participating in competitions would also help states to identify players that could represent them in various competitions.
”From national competitions, states will know their best players and will just call them to camp when they are to represent them in tournaments,” he said.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist said that national competitions would keep athletes in the mood for international competitions.
‘‘National competitions would always spur athletes to be busy and in competition mood at all time.
‘‘Regular competitions also bring about determination and rivalry among players, even if they are from the same country,” he said.
Ojo noted that though competitions were organised in the country, there was need for more if the country wanted to regain its lost glory in the sport.
”We used to be a force to reckon with in table tennis both in the continent and globally, but we seem to be losing it to other countries in Africa.
“Though things are getting back in place for us, for it to be fully enacted we need more competitions.
”Egypt that overtook us for a while are now behind us, but we need to have more competitions to adequately prepare us toward international competitions,’’ Ojo said.
He said that a Nigerian, Quadri Aruna, current Africa champion, defeated Assar Omar of Egypt at the Nigeria Open Championship held in Lagos. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]
