From the way things are panning out at the 4th Michael & Felicia Alabi Memorial National Table Tennis Championships, it is obvious that the players are not ready to concede defeats to themselves as top seed Amadi Umeh affirmed his intention to clinch another national title in Otan Ayegbaju, Osun State.
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Also, Akinwale Fagbamila and Augustine Emmanuel are battle ready to stun Umeh, whose national team experience will come to the fore when the main draws (round of 16) kick off on Wednesday, April 24.
The annual tournament, which has been upgraded to a national ranking event by the national table tennis ruling body, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), is organised by the Osun State Table Tennis Association (OSTTA) with support from the Michael & Felicia Alabi Memorial Foundation as well as Canada-based Jodal Health Care had players from 28 states across the country competing in 14 events.
Also, the finals of the deaf and para events will take centre stage as dignitaries across Osun are expected to grace the event as a build-up to the grand finale on Friday, April 26.
Umeh, who won one of the national tournaments in 2023 and was part of the national team for the 13th African Games, believes he would be unstoppable in the men’s singles. “I don’t see anyone stopping me here because I am familiar with most of them, and they are no match for me. But I will not underrate them, as I am here for business, which is to take home the grand prize. I must also commend the sponsors for raising the standard of the tournament this year because the organisation has been much better than the previous editions,” the Edo State star said.
But the duo of Fagbamila and Emmanuel are ready to rock the boat with Umeh when the main draws take off.
In the women’s singles, top seed Bisola Asaju will contend with Sukurat Aiyelabegan, who has a national title to her credit, and it promises to be exciting when both players try to fend off other contenders from clinching the title.
