27th March, 2013
The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) will participate in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Championships and Tunisia Open Championships with 13 players and four officials, an official has said.
The Chairman, Nigerian Table Tennis Umpires Association, John Peters, said in Lagos that the championships would hold from March 27 to April 6 in Tunisia.
Peters said it would serve as the qualifiers for the World Cadet Table Tennis Championships, the World Junior Championship and the Junior Table Tennis Olympics.
He said that Team Nigeria departed Lagos yesterday for Tunisia aboard an Egypt Air flight.
Peters, an ITTF umpire, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the participants should be good ambassadors at the competitions and would maintain good behaviour.
“They should be good ambassadors and they should work as a team because their behaviour at the event will be used to judge Nigeria.
“They should remain focused and disciplined because a lot of issues might come up to test their character and skills. I implore them to be good representatives,’’ he said.
Femi Sokoya, Chairman, Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSTTA), also advised the players to adhere strictly to all the ITTF rules as they could be disqualified because of any fault.
“I am here because some players from Lagos State have also been called to represent the country.
“We are here to give the players moral support and let them know that we care about them,’’ he said.
The players for the championships comprise of seven female, six male and four officials.
In the male category are Onaolapo Ojo, Omotayo Adeyemi, Ayodele Sunday, Kehinde Awobajo, Babafemi Babatunde, Hammed Osibanjo.
The females are Fatima Kazeem, Oluwafunke Hassan, Funmilola Ajala, Abosede Odusanya, Ayo Udom, Onyinyechi Mbah and Tosin Oribamise, while the officials are Nasiru Bello, Omoniyi Adedotun, Nasiru Sule and Ibrahim Oyelewe.