From the 310 participants that featured in the 2018 edition, the 51st Asoju Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Tournament witnessed record entries as over 365 players have been listed for the five-day event.
From the turnout on the opening day yesterday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, it was clear that the competition has continued to attract more players annually.
According to the Secretary General of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSTTA), Ayobami Morakinyo, participants from schools and clubs have also identified with the longest running table tennis tournament in Africa.
“We are excited with the huge turnout because registering the players was stressful but this has gone to show that the tournament has become a household name in Lagos and Nigeria.
From the list of participants, 119 registered for the senior event, 152 for juniors while 94 were listed for the cadet event. The junior boys dominated the list with over 103 players competing for honour in the event. “I am hoping that we can get new set of players that will be groomed to become world beaters,” the scribe said last night.
Already, two former champions – Ahmed Adeyinka and Tolu Durosimmi-Eti will be slugging it out with defending champions David Fayele and Bose Odusanya in the men and women’s singles event.
Fayele and Odusanya have been seeded number one in the men and women singles while Adeyinka and Durosimmi-Eti are number three seeds in men and women respectively.
