NAN-S-1
Table tennis
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
Lagos, Aug. 12, 2017 (NAN) Tosin Oribamise, Nigeria’s top junior table tennis player, says he has acquired more techniques at the Seamaster International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Challenge Nigeria Open in Lagos,
He said this is in spite of his defeat at the ongoing championship.
Oribamise, who lost 3-0 to Piccolin George of Italy in the semi-final stage of the U-21 event made the statement to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.
The player said that she had sharpened her skill in the sport.
Oribamise was the only Nigerian who got to the semi-final at the championships holding in Molade Okoya Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
“It was indeed a competitive event, and I must confess that it was a good experience and an avenue to add to my skill which will help me to improve.
“I know my fans out there will not be too happy, because they believed that I will come out top, but I will make it up in subsequent tournaments,” she said.
The player’s coach, Olubode Ajayi, told NAN that the player performed brilliantly well.
Ajayi said that he was proud of her for being the only Nigerian player that got to semi-final in her category.
The coach said that he was thrilled by the player’s strokes.
According to him, in spite of the fact that she was not medically fit, she was able to prove her capability in the championships.
“As far as I am concerned, my girl has done very well and the audience was cheering her, even when the scores were not in her favour, she remained focused.
“I actually had my fears before her games, because she was not feeling well and still on medications, but she assured me and she did her best,” Ajayi said.
The coach said that her participation and performances in the championships had afforded him the opportunity to identify some technical areas in which he needed to give priority.
NAN reports that Nigeria’s foreign-based table tennis player, Funke Oshonaike, owner of the foundation, said that the objective was to encourage young players.
Oshonaike, who plays in Poppenbuttel Club, Hamburg, Germany, distributed T-shirts, rubber, balls and bats to all the U-21 players that featured in the championships.
“It is just my little way of saying well done to our upcoming players because they are doing well and I deem it necessary to let them know that I am behind them,’’ she said. (NAN)
MIL/ENN/GOK
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Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Olagoke Olatoye