ITTF Lists Lagos World Tour For March

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has listed Lagos World Tour amongst the challenge series and its holds on March 10 to 14.

In the prospectus released by the world table tennis governing body, the prize money for the Lagos Tour has also been hiked to $46,000 (N8.3m) while six events will be jostled for by players across the globe.

The events – Men’s single, women’s single, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, U-21 boys’ singles and U-21 girls’ singles.

Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium will host the five-day tournament while the final entry for the tournament has been fixed for February 18.

Algeria’s Nabil Almamoon has been named as the referee while his compatriot, Mounir Bessah is the competition manager.

It stated: “According to the 2015 Directives and SSI for World Tour, we have to limit the number of entries to players in total. Only the final entries are taken into consideration by the organisers and the Competition Manager for the participation of your players.

An association can enter a maximum of 24 direct entries (6 players by category: MS, WS, U21 boys and U21 girls). If no U-21 event is played an association can enter a maximum of 12 direct entries.

ITTF

The host association can enter a maximum of 48 direct entries (12 players by category: MS, WS, U21 boys and U21 girls).”

“If no U-21 event is played the host association can enter a maximum of 24 direct entries. No association can have more than 6 players entered in the doubles event except the host association (12 players) if the Doubles event is played at this tournament.

The additional entries will be put on a waiting list and accepted depending of the total number of entries,” the prospectus said.

Egypt’s Dominance Of Nigeria In Table Tennis Is Over, Says Toriola

For the past five years, Egypt overthrew Nigeria’s dominance of table tennis in Africa and this continued unabated until what befell the North Africans recently at the maiden African Top 16 Cup when Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri defeated two Egyptians on his way to clinching the title.

Segun Toriola

This is what as prompted Segun Toriola’s submission recently when he concluded that the era of Egypt ruling the game is over.

“We have improved a lot now especially with young players like Aruna Quadri as everybody witnessed what happened at the Lagos World Tour and the African Top 16 Cup. At present, some of the Egyptian players are afraid of Nigerian players.

The Egyptians ‎used to think that they could easily defeat Nigerian players but now they have doubts because our performance at the Lagos World Tour has convinced them.

“I believe in the next four to five years, we will see tremendous improvements in Nigerian table tennis and I am hopeful that young players like Tosin Oribamishe will be an Africa champion in the next three or four years,” he stated.

The former African champion who spearheaded a two-week training exercise for junior players said he would be willing to support the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) in its quest to revive the fortunes of the game.

“For me it’s very important to give something back to the young ones and everybody knows that I have been playing with the national team for many years. As I am planning to quit next year, it is very important to let the young ones have a deeper understanding of the game especially the basics.

Having gained a lot of knowledge even as a junior player and with more than 15 years experience, I think it is also very important for me to impart on the younger players,” he said.

For the President, NTTF, Wahid Oshodi, having players like Toriola is a plus to the country.

His words: “What the federation is trying to do is to ensure that we get our players constantly engaged and we are lucky to have Toriola, who is willing to work with the national coaches. I think the most important thing now is coming off the back of a successful 2014 Commonwealth Games especially in the men’s team. Now we know that we need some new players and some of the players hopefully in the next four years will be at the next Commonwealth games, I’m quite sure that one or two of them will be there so we need to work harder to build on the successes we have had and I believe a new batch of stars will be unearthed soon.”

Oshodi also appealed to sponsors to identify with the game:
“We must thank our sponsors, the people who have backed us, but organise more tournaments requires more money and that is the major constraint we are facing.

But we are looking to the National Sports Commission (NSC) now more than ever. We need their backing and support.

We told them we would deliver at the Commonwealth Games and we delivered a bronze, which we haven’t done in a long time. We are very proud of that bronze medal considering the fact that we have two young players in the team – Ojo Onaolapo and Aruna Quadri.

So it tells you that the work we are doing is paying off but now we need money and that means looking toward NSC and also our sponsors have been very helpful. They tried quite hard but now we need the Federal Government to back table tennis in Nigeria,” he added.

Camp Resumes As NTTF Names Team For Commonwealth Games

After taking part in the just concluded International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Lagos World Tour and African Top 16 Cup, the final phase of camping for this month’s Commonwealth Games resumed just as the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has named a strong ten-man team for the championship holding in Glasgow, Scotland.

Virtually all the players aiming to be part of the team for the Commonwealth Games took part in the two-in-one tournament held in Lagos last week.

To complete the list of the team for the games, NTTF organized a two-day trial for the players to select the final four that would join the already listed six-man team that were part of the team to the last World Championship in Tokyo, Japan.

At the end of the trial, Ganiat Ogundele and her sibling, Rashidat made the women team, while Portugal-based duo of Bode Abiodun and Jide Ogidiolu made the cut for the men team.

According to NTTF Secretary General, Chinedu Ezeala-Ogundare, the players were selected based on their present form and this was to ensure that Nigeria present a formidable team that would compete for medals against top teams like Singapore, England and India.

“We want to ensure that we give all the players equal opportunity to make the team and that is why we decided to organize the trials. So for us, we are already in camp before the tournaments last week and now we have returned to camp to ensure that we give our players the opportunity to train well before the departing the country for a two-week training tour of Italy,” she said.

The current African champion and ITTF World Cup-bound Aruna Quadri topped the list of players that will hoist Nigeria’s flag in Glasgow.

He will be joined by experienced and one of the continent’s most decorated players, Segun Toriola. Toriola who guided the team to a god outing at the World Championship in Japan will captain the team, while former junior sensation, Ojo Onaolapo will also be part of the team. Others are Bode Abiodun and Jide Ogidiolu.

Germany-based Funke Oshonaike will captain the female team while other members are Edem Offiong, Cecilia Otu-Akpan, Ganiat Ogundele and Rashidat Ogundele.

The team is expected to depart for Italy next week for the training tour where they will move to Scotland for the games.

Nigeria Table Tennis Federation

Team Nigeria

Funke Oshonaike

Edem Offiong

Cecilia Otu-Akpan

Ganiat Ogundele

Rashidat Ogundele

Aruna Quadri

Segun Toriola

Ojo Onaolapo

Bode Abiodun

Jide Ogidiolu

Main draw serves off at ITTF Lagos World Tour

UDOH, ayo

For Italy’s based Olajide Omotayo, making it to the main draw of the U-21 event was not an easy task after managing a scrappy victory over Azeez Ogunlade.

“I started the match badly because I just arrived from my base in Italy. But I started picking up during the second game. Also, my opponent is a familiar foe and it was so easy for me to overcome him. I am looking forward to a good outing in the tournament especially with the quality atmosphere in place,” Omotayo said.

Bode Abiodun

Egypt, Luxembourg are top seeds, ITTF Lagos World Tour serves off

Egypt’s Omar Assar and Luxembourg’s Ni Xialian are top seeded players as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open serves off on Monday June 23 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria.

Speaking at the pre-tournament briefing, the President, International Table Tennis Federation, Adam Sharara was particularly thrilled by the organization of the Lagos World Tour while commending the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) for their giant strides in the last one year.

In the seeding list, Egypt’s Assar is rated number one in the men’s single, while Luxembourg’s 51 year-old Xialian is also rated in the women’s event.

Other seeded players are Egypt’s El-Sayed Lashin, Nigeria’s Segun Toriola and Aruna Quadri in the men’s event, while the only Nigerian seeded in the women event is Edem Offiong.

In the U-21 boys’ event, Singapore’s Yin Jing Yuan is number one, while Nigeria’s Ojo Onaolapo is rated number two, while Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Nadeen El-Dawlatly are top seeds.

“I am impressed with what NTTF has been able to do in the last one year. The game is returning back to Nigeria and most importantly the quality of organization that they had put in place has really shown that Nigeria is capable of staging this tournament.

We were surprised with what they did during the Lagos Classics and this was what motivated us to decided to give them the hosting right for this tour,” Sharara said.

The ITTF helmsman, who was represented by former Deputy President, George Segun, however charged the participant to enjoy the beautiful city of Lagos with its warm hospitality.

Also, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) President, Khaled El-Salhy expressed his satisfaction with the effort made so far by NTTF, while admitting that this was what prompted the continental body to give the hosting right of the Africa Top 16 Cup to Nigeria.

For the President, NTTF, Wahid Oshodi, all is set for the kick off of the tournament as everything have been put in place to ensure smooth organisation.

For the duo of Funke Oshonaike and Segun Toriola, taking part in the tournament would surely inspire the upcoming players to aim high.

“I am happy that the game is coming back to Nigeria because with the staging of the Classics in 2013,

Nigeria is now getting more attention from ITTF and we hope that this tempo will be sustained so that Nigeria can be a force to be reckoned with in the game. We hope that we can win the tournament but it is not going to be easy,” Oshonaike admitted.

At the pre-tournament press conference held in Lagos on Sunday June 22, 2014

Players, ITTF officials arrive for Lagos World Tour

ITTF

Players from the 14 countries including host – Nigeria and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) officials will start arriving Lagos on Friday June 20, for the Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open.

According to the itinerary of the teams, Singapore’s Jing Yuan Yin will be the first player expected to touch down in Lagos for the four-day tournament.

Others expected are Luxembourg’s Ni Xialian as well as Russia’s duo of Vasilij Filatov and Irina Ermakova.

The eight-man Egyptian team will arrive on Saturday June 21, while others will arrive Lagos on Sunday.

Also, ITTF officials led by African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy as well as his deputy, Henri Djombo from Congo Brazzaville will be in Lagos by Sunday.

ITTF Marketing Director, Australia’s Mr. Steve Daintom will also be in Lagos.

The draw for the championship will hold on Sunday, while some top players will be seeded for the competition.

Meanwhile, winners in the men and women singles event will get N.8m each while players that make it to the round of 16 will get cash reward for their efforts.

Semifinalists in the U-21 event will also be rewarded for their efforts.

As a Challenge Series in the ITTF World Tour, players are expected to amass points for their world ranking at the tournament.

Preliminary matches will kick off on Monday June 23, while the main draw will commence on Tuesday June 24.
Nigerian players aiming to be part of the main draw event are now sweating it out across the country with the intention of playing in the elite stage of the championship.

Some of the Nigerian players already in the country for the tournament are Germany-based Funke Oshonaike, Portugal-based Ganiat Olatunde-Aruna, as well as Italy-based Olajide Omotayo.

Over 15 countries including Nigeria will compete in the N8.5m prize money tournament holding at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium from June 23 to 26.

Bode Abiodun

ITTF Lists 37 Umpires For Lagos World Tour

ITTF

To ensure that only certified and qualified officials handle proceedings at the Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has listed 36 umpires for the four-day tournament.

The umpires were drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Libya, Togo, Congo Brazzaville and Benin while Malaysia’s Cyril Sen and Netherlands’ Albert Roojimans will coordinate the affairs during the tournament.

According to Main Organising Committee (MOC), the total number of countries expected to officiate at the championship exceeded the number recommended by ITTF. The umpire are made up of 22 male and 14 female.

Also on Wednesday, a three-day tournament organization course will take place at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall while there will be two-day technical training for the officials.

According to the coordinator of the training, John Peters, the exercise would surely help Nigerian players to get graded by top officials from ITTF.

“For us this is a rare opportunity for our referees to be acquainted with the latest rules in the game as well as get graded by ITTF.

We are pleased to have this and I hope that our officials will do their best to get graded.

This kind of training is organized mostly in Europe and other parts of the world where most times, the officials are expected to sponsor themselves there.

But as we are hosting the World Tour, ITTF has decided to organize the exercise in Nigeria,” Peters said.

The tournament organization course will commence on Wednesday June 18 to 20, while the Certified Basic Referees Course holds on June 21.

The Advanced Umpires Training/Advanced Rules Examination will hold on June 22 and two ITTF experts will conduct it.

Meanwhile, Singapore, Russia and Luxembourg are expected to arrive on Saturday while other teams will touch down in Lagos this weekend as well.

15 countries have been confirmed for the four-day N6.4m prize money championship serving off on Monday June 23 to 26.

Organisers plan big, as venue wears new look for ITTF World Tour

Defending champion of the Lagos Classics, Omar Assar

To ensure that the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)-sanctioned Lagos World Tour scheduled for June 23 to 26 is successful, organisers of the tournament are putting finishing touches to preparation even as the venues are now wearing new look.

The Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium has been given a facelift while the Main Organising Committee (MOC) believes the tournament would continue to improve its standard yearly as players are expected to start arriving this week.

With teams like Egypt already in China preparing for the competition, players from Europe are also rounding off their build up this week.

A new lighting system has been installed in the hall, while the knock hall of the National Stadium that will serve as practice hall has also been renovated in preparedness for the competition.

Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium

Commonwealth champions, Singapore, Egypt and Russia and 11 other countries have been confirmed for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open holding this month.

MOC Chairman, Wahid Oshodi said efforts are in top gear to ensure that the facilities are ready on time, while ITTF experts in readiness for the championship will train over 100 officials.

“We are working very hard to ensure that once again we raise the standard of the tournament and we are pleading with the fans to come to the stadium to see the best of our sport.

We had players from 13 countries last year and with the closing of registration for the event, we have over 15 countries already listed for the tournament. We need the level of competition to continue to improve from year to year,” he said.

The President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) added: “As you know the top 16 players in Africa will be here to compete in the World tour as well as the Top 16.

I spoke to Omar Assar the men’s defending champion in Tokyo and he is looking forward to returning to Lagos to defend his title and continue his great relationship with the Lagos fans. Of course all our top players will be on show.”

Also, the President, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy believes the MOC has the capacity to up a good show.

“I am confident that this year’s tournament will be better than last year and with what I had been reading and hearing about the organization, I hope it will be the best tournament to be staged in recent times,” the ATTF boss said.

The teams confirmed for the tournament include, Benin, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Cameroun, Ghana, Libya, Luxembourg, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Togo and Tunisia.

Singapore’s Jing Yuan Yin will represent the Asian nation at the tournament and the junior sensation is expected to compete in the men’s and U-21 singles.

Also, Egypt has assembled a strong eight-man team led by the defending champion of the Lagos Classics, Omar Assar as well as current Africa’s Senior’s Cup champion, El-Sayed Lashin. His sibling, Khalid, Mohamed El-Beiali and Mohamed Elsobky will also be in Lagos.

Also, Africa’s number one female player, Dina Meshref will lead the Egyptian women team, which includes Nadeen El-Dawlatly and Farah Abdel-Aziz.

Russia’s flag will be hoisted by the duo of Vasilij Filatov and Irina Ermakova, while one of the top rated player in the world, Xialian Ni will represent Luxembourg in the championship.

Singapore, Egypt, Russia, 11 others confirm for ITTF Lagos World Tour

ITTF

Commonwealth champion, Singapore, Egypt and Russia including 11 other nations have already been confirmed for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open holding this month.

According to the list of confirmed countries, other teams that will join host – Nigeria at the tournament scheduled to hold on June 23 to 26 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium are Benin, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Cameroun, Ghana, Libya, Luxembourg, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Togo and Tunisia.

Singapore’s Jing Yuan Yin will represent the Asian nation at the tournament and the junior sensation is expected to compete in the men’s and U-21 singles.

Also, Egypt has assembled a strong eight-man team led by the defending champion of the Lagos Classics, Omar Assar as well as current Africa’s Senior’s Cup champion, El-Sayed Lashin. His sibling, Khalid, Mohamed El-Beiali and Mohamed Elsobky in the men’s category, will also join Assar.

Also, the number one rated African female player in the world, Dina Meshref will lead the Egyptian women team and Nadeen El-Dawlatly, as well as Farah Abdel-Aziz will join her.

Russia’s flag will be hoisted by the duo of Vasilij Filatov and Irina Ermakova, while one of the top rated player in the world, Xialian Ni will represent Luxembourg in the championship.

According to the chairman, Main Organising Committee (MOC), Wahid Oshodi, efforts are in place to ensure that the standard of organization for this year’s competition is improved.

“A lot more of the same is expected this year and I must thank all the people that made the tournament such a great success in 2013.

The experience garnered by many members of MOC in staging various top class events in Lagos came to the fore. The support and encouragement of His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State is probably the most important factor in putting this tournament together.

We also must thank our sponsors who are proving to be excellent partners. Of course our success last year has led to the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) giving us the hosting rights of the African Top 16 alongside the World Tour.

This means that we have a lot more to do. We are working very hard to ensure that once again, we raise the standard of the tournament and we are pleading with the fans to come to the stadium to see the best of our sport,” Oshodi said.

ITTF releases prospectus for Lagos World Tour

To acquaint countries about the staging of the 2014 Lagos World Tour, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Thursday released the official prospectus for the tournament holding in June this year.

The world table tennis ruling body has also uploaded the prospectus on its website for the 214 national associations.
According to the ITTF Director of Competitions, Karl Jindrak, the Lagos World Tour tagged Nigeria Open is one of the Challenge Series listed by ITTF on its 2014 calendar.

Players hoping to be part of the championship are expected to register through their national associations, while the preliminary
entries commence on May 10 with the final entries for singles on May 24.

There will be a charge of $150 cancellation fee for each player cancelled after the entry deadline. This period starts on the day of closing the final entries, one month before the event. These cancellation amounts will be added to the association’s invoice to be paid together with the hospitality costs to the organizers either by bank transfer or by cash on site,” Jindrak said.

He added: “Associations with pending payments of cancellation fee will not be allowed to enter any World Tour events as long as the payment is not fulfilled.”

Four events – men and women singles as well as U-21 men and women singles will be competed at the four-day championship holding at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

The total prize money for the tournament is $39,700 with men singles winner carting home $5,000.

The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) organizes the tournament with support from the Lagos State Government.

Egypt’s Omar Assar who beat Nigeria’s Segun Toriola to emerge champion at the maiden edition of the tournament tagged Lagos Classics has promised to return to Lagos to defend his title, while Cecilia Otu-Akpan who defied all odds to lift the title in the women event will be part of the Nigerian team to the World Championship in Tokyo, Japan.

ITTF thumbs up NTTF, optimistic of Lagos World Tour

ITTF thumbs up NTTF, optimistic of Lagos World Tour

President, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Adham Sharara has expressed his excitement about the staging of the maiden Lagos Classics, with a commendation to the board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF).
The ITTF helmsman, also believes the forthcoming Lagos World Tour would witness a huge success following the accolades that greeted the resurgence of table tennis in Nigeria with the organization of the Lagos Classics.
Sharara made this submission during the singing of agreement between ITTF and NTTF to finalise for the Lagos World Tour holding in June.
“I am still so excited about the success of the Lagos Classics. It was indeed a huge success and I must commend the president of NTTF, Wahid Oshodi and his team as well as the Lagos State Government for providing the enabling environment for the game to make a return. I was overwhelmed with the huge publicity that the competition got and I felt that this was a big plus to Nigeria. So ITTF did not hesitate to give Nigeria the hosting right for World Tour. I also must thank the Lagos State Government as well as the fans for their huge support to the game and I look forward to repeat of this come June this year,” Sharara said.
Also, the President of African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Khaled El-Salhy, who was in Lagos during the Classics confirmed that the crowd that watched the final between Egypt’s Omar Assar and Nigeria’s Segun Toriola at the Lagos Classics was the biggest to be witnessed in the continent.

“I think what I saw during the Classics is a confirmation of the passion that Nigerians have for table tennis and this goes to show that NTTF led by Wahid Oshodi did a good job in organizing the tournament. I am hopeful that the Lagos World Tour will also witness this scenario in June,” the ATTF boss said.
For NTTF President, Wahid Oshodi, the preparation for the championship has commenced, adding that the federation would ensure that it stages a befitting tournament.

“We are aware of the task ahead and we are going to ensure that we put everything in place that will outshine what we did during the Lagos Classics. We are grateful to ITTF as well as ATTF for the trust and confidence they had on us and we promise that we will not disappoint them,” Oshodi said.
The Lagos World Tour will be staged in Lagos in June and Africa Top 16 Cup, which serves as the continent qualifiers for the ITTF World Cups, will follow it.

Picture Caption: President, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Adham Sharara (third from left); President, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi (second left), Vice President, Administrative, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), Olabanji Oladapo (left); President, ATTF, Khaled El-Salhy (right) and Honourary Vice President, ITTF, George Segun (second from right) after the signing of agreement for the Lagos World Tour at the 2014 World Tours Finals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the weekend.

NTTF, ITTF to sign agreement on Lagos World Tour in Dubai

NTTF, ITTF to sign agreement on Lagos World Tour in Dubai

To officially seal the hosting of the Lagos World Tour, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) will this week in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sign the agreement on the tournament.
All the countries hosting the 2014 World Tour are expected to be present at the14th ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to conclude the arrangement for the championships.

NTTF will be led by its president, Wahid Oshodi while officials of the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) led by its president, Khaled El-Salhy and its vice president, Olabanji Oladapo will also be in attendance to witness the agreement singing.
Speaking on the importance of the event, Oladapo said this is the final confirmation to the hosting nations in terms of the equipment and other modalities for the World Tour.
“I want to say this is the final step at confirming that any nation is hosting the World Tour. The tour is one of the qualification avenues for players to qualify to play in the World Tour Finals. So it is necessary that the presence of NTTF especially its president is required at the sign ceremony holding this week in Dubai. We as executive of ATTF will also be present at the event and we are hoping that this will open more opportunities for Nigeria,” the ATTF boss said.
He added: “The first Lagos Classics had opened the door for so many opportunities to Nigeria and like someone said to me that they thought that Nigeria was dead in terms of table tennis and that with the staging of the Lagos Classics, he was shocked at the way things are going. In fact, with the speed that we came out, it was as if we are waiting for this. That is exactly the way I want to define it that even up to the president of the ITTF, Adam Sharara, his comments, writings, and discussions has been encouraging. He said the fire is back in Nigeria and I am sure with the leadership, cooperation and advise of all of us, things will get better. ITTF sees Nigeria now as a flying country in terms of table tennis.”
He however, expressed optimistic that Lagos is capable to stage the World Tour come June this year.
“I want to say publicly that on behalf of the leadership of the table tennis community in Nigeria and the leadership of the world table tennis led by Adam Sharara, we are grateful to the Lagos State government for the opportunity they provided for the Lagos classics and the forthcoming Lagos World Tour this year, which is going to dovetailed into Africa Top 16,” Oladapo said.
It will be recalled that the NTTF and ATTF finalized the arrangement for the Africa Top 16 Cup holding in Lagos as well as during the last World Junior Championships in Rabat, Morocco.