The top 64 players (boys and girls) in the U-15 and U-19 categories will compete at the 1st Daniel Ford International Elite Youth Invitational National Table Tennis Championships from December 21 to 22 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria.
The tournament is sponsored by UK-based property firm, Daniel Ford International and organized by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) with the sole aim of unearthing talents as well as contributing to the growth of table tennis in the country.
According to the Founder and CEO of Daniel Ford International, Yemi Edun, the decision to sponsor the tournament was borne out of his passion for the sport having grown up in Surulere area of Lagos considered the sports capital of Nigeria.
“Table tennis was widely played at homes and on the streets growing up, but I also lived in Surulere, which was and still is, to some extent, the sports capital of Nigeria. In fact, the National Stadium located in Surulere is also known as Sports City, living in this neighbourhood made me acutely aware of all things sports, including table tennis. Aside from that, I grew up during a period when table tennis legends like Atanda Musa were routinely featured on the front pages of national newspapers,” he said.
He added: “There is a nostalgic look back to the glory days of table tennis, as well as an undying love and passion for the sport amongst youths.
We believe that the missing link or void is competition, and that is what we are attempting to bridge by introducing competition into the equation, we believe this will fan the flames that are still present and make it even better.”
He affirmed his company’s commitment to make the tournament a long haul. “If the anticipated passion and interest remain, we will consider making it bigger, international, and for a much longer period of time.
In this scenario, the assistance would be long-term “, he confidently asserts.
Among the objectives, Edun said: “We want to enrich the existing talent pool and provide opportunities for talent to shine. We also believe it would be something that is suitable for the festive season, a good way to round up the year.
Our objective is to elevate table tennis’s place in Nigeria’s sporting hierarchy and ideally, bring it back to her glory days.”
Apart from the mouth-watering prize money, the boarding and feeding of all invited players and officials will be bankrolled by the sponsors.
The tournament would be played in round robin format with the 16 (boys and girls each) in U15 and 16 (boys and girls each) in U-19 would be drawn into a group of four with the top two in each group advancing to the knockout stage of the tournament.
