Players hoping to share from the mouthwatering prize money for the annual Asoju Oba-Molade Okoya-Thomas Table Tennis Cup are at present honing their skills across Lagos in readiness for the tournament.

The annual tournament remains the oldest competition in Nigeria having started in 1968 and has been staged uninterrupted for 48 years with some of its products being former National Coach, Babatunde Obisanya who won the maiden edition in 1968 as well as the current African women champion, Olufunke Oshonaike.

Training centres dotted  all over Lagos have been besieged by the players who are eager to sharpen their skills under the guidance of their adopted coaches while the stage is also set to unveil packages for this year’s championships.

Quadri in action at Glasgow

From junior boys defending champion, Nurudeen Hassan to men’s singles champion, Ahmed Adeyinka, the target for the title remains their priority.

Hassan, a member of the senior national team to the last ITTF Africa Senior Championship held in Morocco, hopes to exceed the round of 16 at which he exited the tournament last year.

“I am ready to battle for the men’s singles title. The experience I had playing alongside the likes of Aruna Quadri, Bode Abiodun and Segun Toriola would be helpful for me in this year’s championship. I hope I can be a title contender and not pretender because I also want to be the winner of the Asoju Oba Cup because most the players that have won the competition in the past made their way into the national team to become African stars.

I must also admit that it is not going to be an easy task for me because there are a lot of quality players in Lagos State. But I hope to try my best on the title this year,” Hassan said.