TAIWO ADELU
The Okoya Thomas dynasty, in its usual partnership with the Lagos State Sports Commission, has concluded plans to organise the 48th edition of the Asoju Oba Senior Table Tennis Championship which will hold from Monday, 21 to Friday, 25 November, 2016 inside Sir (Chief) Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
Secretary, Lagos State Table Tennis Association, LSTTA, Ayobami Morakinyo, said the championship, which would serve as a test for Lagos table tennis players in preparation towards the forthcoming National Sports Festival, NSF, will see over 500 players taking part in the competition which had been holding since 1968.
While speaking on the tournament, Deji Okoya-Thomas, said the family would still uphold the legacy of the late Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, which has been to use the tournament to discover quality table tennis players for Lagos state and Nigeria.
Deji Okoya-Thomas, who commended Lagos State Sports Commission, LSSC, the state’s table tennis association and Lagos State Government for supporting the tournament, said the family would be delighted if the oldest table tennis championship would produce ping-pongers who could win world titles someday.
However, most of the table tennis players across the state have been training hard in readiness to win laurels and the tournament’s prize money this year.
Former Coach of Lagos State Table Tennis Association, Oladele Sumbo, who has won the tournament more than any player since its inception in 1968, thanked the initiator and sole sponsor of Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship, for deeming it necessary to sponsor the sport, as it has added value to the growth of table tennis in Nigeria.
Sunmbo, fondly called Coach Malawi, said Lagos State Table Tennis team dominated table tennis during the Eko 2012 National Sports Festival because most of the athletes who featured in the Games were products of Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship.