Twenty-nine teams from Nigeria and three others from Ghana, Togo, and the Benin Republic are to slug it out in Lagos for the ultimate prize at the first mixed-team table tennis tournament in Africa.
The newly introduced mixed-team event was first played in China in 2023, with its debut in Africa sponsored by the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Mukhail Abiru.
Tagged the Senator Abiru Mixed Table Tennis Championship, the event is organised by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation and will take place from Thursday, October 31 (today) to November 2, 2024, at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos State.
At a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, Abiru reiterated his commitment to harness the power of sports to empower more youths.
“We are making history and blazing the trail with the first ever mixed-team table tennis event to be held in Africa,” Abiru said.
“This partnership with the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation will be an enduring one, and we are looking for more avenues to further empower our youths because we believe in their creativity and resourcefulness,” he added.
The newly elected president of the Africa Table Tennis Federation, Enitan Oshodi, also harped on the advantage of the new event for Nigeria.
He said, “In a way, for us in table tennis, this is a groundbreaking event, and we are grateful to the senator.
“This also helps us to get ahead of the opposition in Africa. Once we start playing this new event, our players start getting used to it faster than the others.”
Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Lekan Fatodu, also pledged the body’s support to the event and other sports.
“I realised that there is a need for us to harness more talents in other sports. It’s a great exposure for us as a state that we have some of our young people doing so well in table tennis, hockey, volleyball, and other sports, so we have to sustain that.”
The event will feature 159 players (84 men and 75 women) jostling for honours in the men’s and women’s singles, doubles, and mixed doubles matches.