120 players for ITTF Premier Lotto Nigerian Open

About 120 players have been confirmed for the 2016 edition of the ITTF Premier Lotto Nigerian Open (Lagos 2016) scheduled for May 18 to 22 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

Since its inception in 2013, the tournament competitors have not exceeded 100 but from the list of registered participants for 2016 edition as at Wednesday April 27 have surpassed previous records.

Tournament Director, Ranti Olajide, said the quality of players coupled with the number of entries is a reflection of the organisation and the standard of play.

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“I must tell you that this year we are having more players coming from Europe unlike in the past. Also players across the world are now beginning to realize that Nigeria is a mecca of table tennis in Africa considering the achievement of our local players taking a cue from Aruna Quadri’s global resurgence, which has now become a rallying point for all the players across the world,” he said.

Olajide, who is a certified ITTF-certified international referee, believes the presence of the top players from Europe would halt the rivalry between Nigeria and Egypt which has dominated the tournament in the last three editions. “I think this year, the tournament will be competitive particularly with the players coming Europe and they will surely give the home players a run for their money,” he added.

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