Abiru mixed table tennis championship begins in Lagos
About 157 players from 28 Nigerian clubs and two foreign clubs from Togo and Benin Republic will compete in the second Senator Abiru Mixed Team Table Tennis Championship.
The event runs from Thursday, October 30, to Saturday, November 1, at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Senator Tokunbo Abiru announced this at a media briefing in Lagos on Thursday, highlighting the importance of the championship.
He said the event sought to promote gender balance, teamwork and inclusivity in sports, and had been endorsed by the Lagos State Table Tennis Association.
Mr Abiru, also founder of the SAIL Empowerment Foundation, reaffirmed his commitment to creating platforms for young Nigerians to develop their talents and technical skills.
He added that the initiative aligned with the foundation’s vision to empower young people through innovation and skill acquisition.
Mr Abiru explained that the foundation’s flagship programme, the SAIL Innovation Lab, focused on developing youth capacity in technology, entrepreneurship and creative industries.
He said the table tennis championship supported the foundation’s mission by promoting discipline, focus and teamwork among young people.
He expressed confidence that empowering youths would help them become worthy ambassadors for the country.
President of the African Table Tennis Federation, Wahid Oshodi, thanked the Abiru Empowerment Foundation for its backing, noting its role in developing a competitive mixed team for future global events.
Oshodi described the initiative as timely and said it would help prepare the federation for forthcoming tournaments.
While Nigeria did not qualify for the current edition in China, he said the support would help build a stronger team for future competitions.
He also expressed optimism that the programme would strengthen Nigeria’s table tennis structure and boost its international competitiveness.
Clubs from Togo and Benin Republic will join 28 Nigerian teams to compete for honours and cash prizes totalling N5.5 million at the championship.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Economy
Flutterwave, Polygon enter partnership to provide blockchain payment in Africa
Multi-year deals will power instant, low-cost payments for multinationals across 30+ African countries, marking the largest real-world stablecoin deployment in emerging markets.
States
Police rescue kidnap victim, arrest two suspects in Kwara
The command described this as another operational success in its sustained onslaught against criminal elements in the state.
Abuja
NSCDC strengthens ties with NIS for optimal service delivery in FCT
The commandant urged the comptroller to always avail the command with intelligence information for easy operation.
Abuja
AEDC begins phase load management of electricity in FCT
The AEDC stated that the exercise would run in three phases for effective management.
NationWide
Group promotes women’s inclusion in peace, conflict resolution
Ms Rebecca Sako-John said that the workshop was designed to strengthen women’s leadership.
NationWide
Psychiatric doctors back NARD’s indefinite strike
NARD on October 27 declared a nationwide indefinite strike.
