Engineer Ishaku Tikon, President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation(NTTF), has described the National Sports Festival as Nigeria’s version of the Olympics and “as such participation of professionals cannot be ruled out. Our ability to come in and take decisive action on such issues is what really matters.”
On the standard of the Etete Sports Hall venue of the Table Tennis event at the ongoing 20th National Sports Festival and the equipment available, Engineer Tikon gave the organisers a pass mark but made reference to the poor cooling system in the hall and asked that it be rectified so that the players, officials and spectators could have a better experience as the event progresses.
On the seemingly poor spectators attendance at the event, the Table Tennis Federation Boss said: “It should be expected. Today is the first day of this event so many spectators may not be aware of it yet.
“I promise you that as the event progresses and the awareness increases the hall will be filled to capacity.”
He charged the players to improve on their skills in the game as that will be a yardstick for measuring the standard of the game and also it will play an important role in how the country is rated globally in the game.
