Inaugural edition, portent for future

by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-Africa Press Officer

Most notably Wahid Oshodi, Chair of the ITTF Nomination Committee and President of the Africa Table Tennis Federation’s Western Region expressed most positive views. He is convinced the tournament is here to stay.

He is not alone in his opinions.

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Khaled El-Salhy, President, African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF)

“The Valuejet Para Open will open doors for para athletes in Nigeria and in Africa; it was a special event with top professional organisation. There was media coverage and good prize money similar to other world events.

After checking that all professional standards are met, the African Table Tennis Federation has already opened a link with the International Table Tennis Federation to get this tournament listed on the ITTF Calendar for 2020.

We are convinced that Nigeria has big experience in sport and especially table tennis. I believe it is this that attracts sponsors to their events. I would like to use this opportunity to thank the management of Valuejet on behalf of the Executive Committee of the ATTF.

With what I saw in Lagos, top para African players with the large turnout of Nigerian players and high standard of play, I am sure it will start attract many top players worldwide as soon as it is listed on ITTF calendar, hopefully next year.”

Theo Cogill, South Africa (men’s singles class 10 semi-finalist)

“I am not surprised with what I have seen in this tournament because it has indeed set the pace for Africa and the world when it comes to organising a major tournament.

Having featured in several tournaments within Africa, I realised that Nigeria is getting better when it comes to staging major competition. I have been to two editions of the Nigeria Open, I was surprised that despite being the maiden edition, the Valuejet Para Table Tennis Open has again showed that the continent should look up to Nigeria when it comes to organisation of major events. They are ahead of others and I hope other African countries can learn from Nigeria.

I hope and believe that ITTF can consider that the Valuejet Open will be included in its calendar for 2020 so that more players across the globe come to Nigeria for the tournament.”

Kunle Soname, Chair of Valuejet Airline

“This tournament will be bigger next year. You can see lots of players; this has been a huge success for the fact that this is the first time an event like this has been held in Nigeria. For me, nothing can be more exciting than this.”

Sunday Odebode, Project Consultant

“Hosting this tournament will help us to develop para table tennis in Nigeria and Africa.

We are able to bring players from other African countries to Nigeria and with a Classifier from ITTF. We have four Nigerian players that have qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and we are looking forward to have more of our players making it to Japan.”

Oluwatoyin Gafar, Director General, Lagos State Sports Commission

“This is a good one for Lagos and we are happy that the state is hosting the maiden edition of the Valuejet Para Table Tennis Open. This is very good for Nigeria and the players generally.

It has shown that Nigeria can host international championships and in line with the commission’s mandate given by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. We are proud to provide the facility and atmosphere to stage the competition in future.”