Onitsha TTC Win First Southeast Table Tennis Championship
Onitsha Table Tennis Club has won the maiden Southeast Table Tennis Club championship held at Cosmila Hotel and Suites, Awka, the Anambra capital
The championship was organised by Bonny Akunna, a veteran player and coach in collaboration with Damila Gold Ice Sparkling Wine.
The duo of Akabuike Opoto and Christian Nnolim lifted the cup for Onitsha after defeating Umuahia Table Tennis Club represented by Emmanuel Okonkwo Gilbert Nwabara 3-2 in the doubles final.
In singles played earlier, the game ended 1-1 with
Okoronkwo of Umuahia beating Nnolim of Onitsha 3-1 and Opoto of Onistha trouncing Nwabara of Umuahia 3-0.
Xfit Table Tennis Club Awka and Enugu Table Tennis Club were joint third place winners of the competition.
A total of 50 players from 10 table tennis clubs across the Southeast took part in the maiden championship.
Obinna Michael, Managing Director of Cosmila Group, owners of Damila wine, said he was driven by his love and passion to make table tennis the leading sporting event in the Southeast.
He congratulated the winners and players for their good conducts during the championship while assuring that the Damila will continue to work with Bonny Akunna to develop the ping pong game in the region.
“Damila as a brand will continue to support table tennis and provide the platform for our youths to rise national and international stardom.
The Umpire of the tournament, Niyi Oladipupo commended Akunna and Damila group for organising the event which he described as impressive and competitive.
Oladipupo, a coach from the Nigeria Institute of sports said the championship revealed that the Southeast had table tennis players who were capable of doing well in national competition if they were properly .
“The championship was competitive because, we did not even know that the Southeast has a number of good players, we used to think table tennis is for the Southwest alone,
“I discovered that there is no so much emphasis on grassroots development, so my recommendation is that the sponsor should consider having a junior category of this championship in subsequent editions,” he said.
In his remark, Akunna thanked all the stakeholders including the Clubs, Coaches, and sponsors for their active participation and success of the first edition of the championship in Southeast.
He said he would continue to work towards the growth of table tennis and development of players so that they could enjoy the opportunities of exposure and livelihood which he got in his heydays.
