Ajetunmobi Rues Dearth Of Tourneys

Nigeria table-tennis star, Seun Ajetunmobi, has rued the dearth of tourneys in the country, blaming the drop in Nigeria’s dominance in the ping pong sport in Africa to the lull being experienced.

Ajetunmobi who currently plays professional table-tennis at the Gunca Sports Club of Portugal stated these while speaking with P.M Sports at the Knock-Up Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, southwest, Nigeria.

He disclosed that lack of regular competition for home-based table-tennis players does not augur well for the development of the ball and bat sport in the country, saying that the future of the game in the country looks bleak, if the trend is not nipped in the bud.

“Table-tennis is one sport that one needs regular competition for one to be abreast with latest skills and techniques if one has to develop. We need steady competitions among home-based players, so that they can compete favourably well with their foreign counterparts, who are always kept busy round the clock with Grade A competitions abroad,” he noted.

Ajetunmobi said the South Africans and Egyptians are posing serious threat to Nigeria’s dominance in the sport and if something urgent is not done, Nigeria would be relegated to the background.

According to him, “now there are various regional table-tennis competitions being organised among countries in the Southern African region; they are being used to help develop the serve and stroke game in that region. Even players of Nigerian origin do participate in those tourneys. “There have been a mass exodus of Nigerian table-tennis players plying their trade in countries that were not doing better than us, countries like Namibia, Libya and Mozambique. The reason being that there are no competitions in Nigeria for them to hone their skills.

It would be recalled that Nigeria’s dominance in the table-tennis event of the All Africa Games has waned because Nigeria have failed to win all the gold medals in the last edition, which was staged in Algeria in 2007.

Ajetunmobi is in the country for the All Africa Games trial scheduled to hold from 6-10 June. It is being organised by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, NTTF.

—Bamidele Olowosagba