The coach of Lagos State’s abula team, Rasheed Olawle has made a case for the inclusion of mixed doubles events for the sport at this year’s National Sports Festival in Abuja.
Shedding light on his thoughts ahead of the competition in December, Olawale told sports247.ng that it is paramount for Lagos State to present a squad in the mixed doubles event.
Although many officials have been wary of the impact having boys and girls play against one another on opposing sides in a mixed-doubles team, Olawale says it is one of the unique trappings of racket sports.
However, Olawale admitted he was sad when his male and female teams were eliminated from the race to Abuja 2018, as they failed to soar at the south-west zonal qualifiers.
He reckoned that getting a team into the mixed doubles event would now be the consolation to hold unto and urged the organisers to accept the idea on technical terms.
Olawale stressed: “Now that Lagos State could not qualify for the male and female team events at the National Sports Festival, it has become imperative that we get a team into the mixed doubles.”
