John Peters, Tournament Referee Molade Okoya-Thomas National Championships, says the event has recorded a huge success.
Peters, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday on the sidelines of the championships ongoing at the Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos State.
He said that the championships was an exciting competition looked forward to by various table tennis players across the nation.
According to him, the event has been a cornerstone of Nigerian sports for decades.
“The expectation is to have a winner for the tournament. We have a giant trophy and winner takes all and other cash prizes for other positions.
“The tournament is a very exciting competition, because it’s the first table tennis national championship hosted in Lagos.
“The competition is going to be stiffer because the players are coming from all over Nigeria and every player wants to win.
“If I would rate the ones before now, it would be 50 per cent and this one, I rate it 100 per cent.
” The reason is that the standard was already high when it was limited to Lagos only.
“I am excited to be the tournament referee because we have the best of the best players now converging on Lagos for the championship.
“This is the largest number of players in national tournament and I am happy.
“I have been part of the tournament since 1972, and we have never had it this big,” he said.
Peters said no fewer than 300 players, including deaf and para players, would compete in 13 events as the tournament continues .
The 56th Molade Okoya-Thomas National Table Tennis Championship started on Monday, and it’s scheduled to last for six days, ending Saturday, Feb. 2.