Lagos Open: Table Tennis venue wears new look

Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium now wears a new look in readiness for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour tagged ‘Lagos Open’.

The ITTF-approved floor will be used while the newly-approved plastic balls will be used during the competition in order to acquaint the players with the new balls.

Meanwhile, coach of Sunshine of Akure, Dotun Omoniyi, has admitted that the absence of star player Ojo Onaolapo, would affect the team’s target in Lagos.

Onaolapo, who at the weekend moved to Italy to pursue his professional career, was instrumental to the team’s triumph during the pilot league organised earlier this year. The coach, though, is optimistic about his team’s chances in the competition.

“We will surely miss him because his experience would have helped the team. But he has to move forward in his career. Even when we won the pilot league, I did not want to use him but he played and sincerely his performance aided the team in clinching the title,” he said.

“We will be arriving Lagos on Wednesday as we are rounding up our training for the competition. There is no doubt it is going to be exciting this time around especially with the number of teams as well as the quality of players expected to be part of the championship. I am going to present two male teams and one female team and I am sure that we will not disappoint our fans in Lagos.

“I am indeed so excited that the NTTF is putting this kind of tournament together for the home-based players and this will surely make them to be in good form for major competitions.”

Also, captain of Spring Fresh, Ayo Omotara, who won a gold medal at Eko 2012 National Sports Festival, is expecting a rewarding tournament in Lagos.

“We are going to be assembling two formidable teams including a female team for the tournament but this time around, we have decided to fortify the team with young and tested players like Azeez Solanke who is Lagos junior champion,”he said.

“Teams like Sunshine, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps as well as Union Bank are major threats but we will not be intimidated by their pedigree as rating does not win matches.”

Olympics system will be used for the championship which runs from October 9 to 17, 2014.