‘Why table tennis has unique place in Lagos calendar’

[FILES] Quadri Aruna

• State pledges readiness to host more events

Lagos State has been described as Africa’s table tennis capital. The state, which yearly hosts the continent’s best players in different competitions, has become a destination for stakeholders in the sport, some of who see playing inside the famous Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of the Teslim Stadium as reaching the holy grail.

As it has done in the past eight years, Lagos is once again hosting Africa’s elite table tennis players, who are fighting on three fronts.

Yesterday, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Femi Hamzat, assured the ITTF that the state is ready to host future World Championships following the successful hosting of several ITTF-sanctioned tournaments in the last eight years. 

Speaking during a courtesy visit by the ITTF team to his office in Lagos, the deputy governor said the state would continue to support table tennis while assuring that they will be willing to host the world based on the experience of hosting several tournaments in the past. 

“We are happy that our efforts have started yielding positive results with Quadri Aruna now ranked among the top 10 players in the world. In the past, the Chinese used to dominate the top of the world. We will continue to support table tennis and we want all our visitors to enjoy the atmosphere in Lagos,” Hamzat said. 

The ITTF team, led by one of its vice presidents, Wahid Enitan Oshodi, said the visit became necessary following the huge support ITTF has gotten from the state in the last eight years.

“We are here on a Thank-You visit because Lagos has been a major supporter of table tennis in Africa, and we are happy that the support has started yielding fruit now that Aruna is now ranked among the top 10 players