NAN-S-1
Postponement
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
Lagos, July 26, 2017 (NAN) The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has postponed the National U-18 National Championships due to low turnout of participants.
The championship was scheduled to hold from July 26 to Aug. 3 at the Knock-Up Hall of the National Stadium.
An official of NTTF who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on condition of anonymity said that the postponement due to few states registering for the competition.
“The championships is no longer holding as scheduled due to poor turnout of participants.
“The number of registration is nothing to write home about, with the number of states that registered, we will not achieve the purpose of the event.
“It is an open event, states are expected to feature teams for the championships, but only seven out of 37 states including Abuja registered as at yesterday for the competitions that is suppose to start today,’’ the source said.
NAN correspondent who was at the venue of the competition reports that some of the players and fans expressed disappointment over the development.
Samson Ajayi, Head Coach of Team Lagos said he was disappointed,“ my players had prepared well for the championships, but unfortunately the competition was postponed due poor turnout of states.
“The players and the coaches were excited about the championship because we hardly have competitions.
“We all looked forward to participate, because such competition would have given us opportunities to evaluate our performances after series of training.
“I am not just happy with the situation of things here today, and the fault is on states that failed to register their teams,’’ he said.
Ayawale Jamiu, defending champion in boy’s cadet category at the 2016 National Championships said his hope of repeating the feat in the championships was truncated with the postponement.
“I am saddened by the development because some of my fans were already aware of my participation in the championships and around to cheer me.
“They said we are not going to play again because the championship has been cancelled, I don’t like it because my friends and family wanted to come and watch my performance,’’ he said.
The 11-year-old Senior Secondary student of Eko Boys Junior High School, Mushin, however, said that he would continue training to enable him be in shape and prepared ahead of subsequent championships. (NAN)
MIL/DEB/MZA
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Edited by Debo Oshundon/Maharazu Ahmed