Sports
TABLE TENNIS: Ghana’s Lartey fired up ahead Nigeria Open
Ghana’s Table Tennis star Felix Lartey has described the annual ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open as a good platform for exposure for African players.
The 26-year-old, a former national champion and an integral member of Team Ghana at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia, believes having the Nigeria Open has given players in the continent the chance to test might with their European counterparts in higher level.
The 2018 edition of the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open is billed to take place in Lagos from Wednesday 8th August to Sunday 13th August.
“I have featured in three editions of the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open and I can tell you that the tournament can rival any tournament in Europe in terms of organization and promotion,” he said in a statement released by ITTF Africa.
“I enjoy every moment I spend playing in Lagos.”
Read Also: England win historic shootout to reach World Cup quarter-finals
Having made it to the round of 32 in two previous editions, the Ghana Immigration Service officer hopes to become the first Ghanaian player to make it to the quarterfinal of an ITTF-title tournament having exited early in previous editions.
“Nigeria Open has given me the chance to assess myself as a player and I will be happy to make it to the quarterfinal this year as the first Ghanaian to make it to the last eight of an ITTF-title tournament.
“Aside from the quality of organization and promotion Nigeria Open has, it has given players like me the opportunity to improve my game,” he added.
Lartey also believes the talents that abound in Nigeria have made some African players to visit in order to improve themselves in the sport.
“Nigeria has talented players and most times some of us visit Nigeria to train with some of these unknown players and the atmosphere at the venue of the Nigeria Open is another motivation for any player because it is always electrifying playing at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall with the continuous support from the Lagos fans,” he stated.
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...