Wahid Oshodi believes standard of the Seamaster ITTF ChallengePlus Nigeria Open rising year by year and it will always attracting world class players across the World.
Oshodi added that this year’s edition will be better than the previous, as the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Nigeria Open promises to be the best ever.
“The knowledge and experience our home based and young playersgain from watching and playing against some of the best players inthe world is invaluable. This in part makes up for the fact that ourplayers lack the necessary exposure which comes from travellingand playing on the circuit.“
“We have been seeing the gains of staging the tournament in thegood performances of our younger players on the Junior Circuit. Wecan see players like Olajide Omotayo, Tobi Falana and NurudeenHassan have improved enough to gain entry into the senior nationalteam.“
“Also importantly thousands of passionate fans and recreationalplayers get to see their heroes at close quarters, thus creating one ofthe most exciting events in our country.“
The competition will be Played in Lagos and begins with two days of qualification on Wednesday 7th August and concludes on Sunday 11th August.
Wahid Oshodi who’s Chair of the Main Organising Committee andChair of the ITTF Nomination Committee, explained that, there are some challenges which has poise a threat to staging big world class event as this, notably funding.
“There are various challenges in staging a tournament of this magnitude, some of the most critical include funding and infrastructural challenges. The tournament has grown in leaps and bounds since it was first conceived and that has led to a need for more funding and an upgrade in terms of the size of the hall and other facilities. The number of people working at the event grows in tandem with the growth in number of the participants. We are very grateful to all the partners who keep supporting the growth of the event.“
However, Oshodi concluded that he’s confident that this year’s edition will attract big players because of the prize money involvedand the improving standard of the tennis tournament.
“We expect a lot more top players. The tournament is now an ITTF Challenge Plus tournament. Lots more prize money $60,000 and the all-important increased points which all the players are aiming to get in a bid for Olympic qualification. This year also with three tournaments preceding the Nigeria Open it will be a fantastic festival of top class table tennis.“
“The Nigerian fans are in for a super treat. This year we have the ITTF Africa (Western Region) Singles Championships, the Africa Clubs Championship and the Africa Singles Cup which is a qualifier for the World Cup all coming up before the Nigeria Open. All packed into two weeks. From July 29 to August 11, we are assured of the best players on the continent and top players from all over the World.“
“From the inquiries we have received so far we are expecting entries from the cream of world table tennis. Apart from the top players in Africa, we are expecting players from all over the world. We had 27 countries last year and we expect to beat that number this year by some margin.
A lot of players ranked within the top 50 of world table tennis have indicated their interest. Once the prospectus is released in the next couple of weeks we expect the entries to flow in.“ Oshodi said.
The post $60000 Up For Grabs At 2019 Seamaster ITTF Challenges Nigeria Open appeared first onCornerstone News Nigeria.
