Table Tennis Federation organises U-13, U-16 championships

Lagos – The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) says that in order to have a pool of players from where ageing ones can be replaced, it is initiating U-13 and U-16 championships to discover athletes.

Table Tennie

NTTF Secretary Segun Oguntade said that the competition would hold from Feb. 28 to March 6 in Lagos.

“The essence is for us to discover young players who we can help to develop from the junior ranks to professional level.

“We can no longer afford to be featuring the same players at every tournament and that is the reason for the talent hunt which is part of the federation’s grassroots programme,’’ Oguntade said.

He said their development would be monitored at tournaments and those who did well would be exposed to international competitions beginning with the African Junior Championships.

He expressed regret that the federation had not organised any competition since the year because of the voter registration held in January and early February.

Oguntade appealed to philanthropists and corporate organisations to support the federation’s programmes.