T/Tennis: Onaolapo Inspires Sunshine’s Lead

From the brink of losing out from the title, Ojo Onaolapo single-handedly took Sunshine Club of Akure to the top of the table in the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF)-organised Pilot League, which ends on Friday at the new-look knock-up hall of the National Stadium in Lagos.

Twice, Onaolapo has emerged winner and with this performance, he now occupies the top of the table with 60 points in the five days.

Also, Sunshine Club of Akure has now usurped the lead from G20 with 97 points while former leader – G20 has 64 points.  Closely following Onaolapo is Kazeem Makanjuola, who has 48 points, while Ganiyu Ashimiyu has 40 points.

A confident Onaolapo said he is in Lagos to win the title despite his inability to start his campaign on a good note.

“I’m unstoppable now because I’ve regained  my form and I hope to maintain this till the end of the league. To be sincere, it is not an easy competition especially for most of the players because we are playing more games than we expected. But in all it is a good start that the federation deem it fit to keep us in good shape and also allow us to win prize money for our efforts,” the former national junior champion said.

However, Makanjuola, who recently featured in the ITTF World Tours in Kuwait and Qatar believes the dominance of Onaolapo will be halted on the final day as only 12 points is between them.

“It is just unfortunate that Onaolapo is leading because twice I had beaten him in this competition, but I most times lost to his teammates. I am battle ready to take charge of the table at the end of the competition,” Makanjuola said.

The federation as well as well-meaning individuals sponsored the one-week championship. Winner of each day has been rewarded with N30, 000, while the total prize money is N890,000.