President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Ishaku Tikon, has given his assurance on Nigeria’s qualification for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Table Tennis event.
Tikon, an Executive Board member of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation and also the 3rd Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee gave the assurance during the inauguration of the various Commissions of the NOC held in Lagos recently.
He said the Table Tennis Federation under his leadership knows the importance of the two in one Programme in Tunisia, the ITTF 2020 Germany and China World Cup qualifiers which run from Feb 22-26 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers holding from Feb 27-29 at the same venue.
He said Nigerian players will not leave any stone unturned in seeing that the mission is accomplished.
The Nigerian table tennis federation has assembled some of the best players in the country for both qualifiers.
They include former ITTF Star player Aruna Quadri, the current All Africa Games men’s singles champion Jide Omotayo, and legendary Segun Toriola for the men category while Offiong Edem, Funke Oshonaike and Fatima Bello, make up the female team. Bello is the only home-based player.
Tikon who is also the chairman of the Olympafrica Development Commission of the NOC said there is no tension in his camp and advised Nigerians not to panic concerning both tickets, as everything that would ensure Nigeria’s qualification for both the 2020 ITTF World Cup and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been taken care of.
Tikon who thanked the Hon. Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, for his support, insists that Team Nigeria Table Tennis is not going to Tunisia for jamboree as the players have since put the misadventure at the Portuguese qualifiers behind them.
“We are not going to Tunisia for any jamboree but to pick both the Olympic and World Cup tickets.
Meanwhile, head coach of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Nasiru Bello will leave Nigeria for Tunisia on Saturday, Feb 15, 2020, with Fatimah Bello, the only home-based player in the team. The rest players would move straight to Tunisia from their respective bases in Europe.
