NAN-S-8
Games
By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
Ilorin, Sept. 26, 2016 (NAN) A former Secretary of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Patrick Uwagbale, on Monday said the sport was not progressing as expected in the country.
Uwagbale made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin at the ongoing 2nd National Youth Games.
He said that for the likes of Funke Oshinaike, Segun Toriola and Aruna Quadri to still be playing actively meant that the game was not developing well.
“As far back as 1992, I was the Secretary of the NTTF and some of the names I mentioned were on board.
“And today, they are still on board playing actively; that tells that the game is not developing.
“For athletes of the 1990s to still be on board is not fair enough.
“There must be replacements but it is not their fault that they are still on board because nobody beats them in the country.
“And the fact that nobody beats them shows that the federation is not progressing,’’ Uwagbale said.
He noted that with the ongoing National Youth Games (NYG), new players should be discovered and groomed to replace the aging ones.
“Thank God for the standard of these Games which is not low for their age, if we have been doing this, there is no way the names I mentioned will still be on board now.
“We have the potential which we are discovering now, but we will have to groom them for the future to be brighter than what it has been,’’ Uwagbale said. (NAN)
BAY/PDE
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(Edited and Controlled by Peter Ejiofor)