By Jide Dominic, Yenagoa
The two day Ist Gov. Diri top 16 table tennis championship has ended in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, amidst thrilling and captivating encounters with Adekoge Muyisalami and Adekoge Ajoke clinching gold medals respectively in the male and female categories in the keenly contested competition.
The event which drew stakeholders and other lovers of table tennis from across the entire nation was the first championship in that magnitude in the country.
Speaking shortly after presenting medals to the first, second and third runners up at the Fortress, the headquarters of the Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association, BSTTA, the State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, who was represented by the state’s Commissioner for Sports, Daniel Igali, commended the State Chairman of BSTTA, Ama-Ebi Stow, for initiating the construction of a beffiting edifice for the development of table tennis among Bayelsa youths, noting that the championship will henceforth hold annually in the state.
He further reiterated the commitment of the state government to the growth of sports in the state, revealing that Bayelsa State will host the 2028 edition of the National Sports Festival.
According to him, the ongoing construction of a 30 seater capacity stadium by the state government is a deliberate step taken to assure stakeholders in the field of sports that the state is ready to host the event in 2028.
He encouraged the winners and losers to learn from the experience they gathered at the event, adding that this will go a long way in shaping and enhancing their performance in other competitions ahead.
The first Chairman of BSTTA and the General Overseer of Royal House of Grace Church, Apostle Zilly Aggrey, expressed great pleasure seeing Bayelsa table tennis players competiting favourably with their counterparts from other parts of the country, commending Ama-Ebi Stow for personally constructing the Fortress with the onerous purpose of placing the game in tandem with international best practices.
In the same vein, the President of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Dr. Adesoji Tayo, noted that this is the first time a competition of this magnitude is taking place in the South/South geopolitical zone of the country, stressing that the move is certainly a shift from the old way of limiting it to the South West only.
He urged other states in the country to emulate the steps taken by BSTTA in order to make the championship more competitive in the country.
To further enhance the continuous growth of table tennis in the state Ama-Ebi Stow stressed that table tennis league will soon be organized in the state, adding that this will go a long way in keeping the players in good shape and skill to enhance their performance at the national and international levels.
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