With just five days before the 18th National Sports Festival holding in Lagos officially kicks off, Razak Hamzat, Coach, Deaf Table Tennis in the Lagos State Table Tennis Association, has warned competitors in the table tennis event (deaf) his players will aim for nothing but gold.
Hamzat said his players, who would be appearing for the first time at the Games, were in good form to spring surprises.
He said that the players had been giving good account of themselves at the ongoing 44th Asoju-Oba Table Tennis Championships where they are also appearing for the first time.
Hamzat said the deaf players were taking part in the competition to sharpen their skills for the Eko 2012 Games holding from November 27 to December 9 in Lagos.
Ten players at the Asoju-Oba championships, comprising five males and five females, won the junior boys singles, junior girls’ singles and the junior mixed doubles of the competition.
“In spite of their challenges, the players have been matching strength for strength with able-bodied table tennis players at the Asoju-Oba championships,” he said. “Their brilliant performances so far have given me the confidence that they will win gold medals in their various categories at the sports festival.”
He also said that the deaf athletes were given the opportunity to play with the able ones to spur them to action, noting the effort was already yielding results.
The Asoju-Oba Championships, which began on November 19, will end on November 23 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere.
Team Ekiti set for fiesta
Team Ekiti’s 150-man contingent for the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF) will make its presence felt at the 14-day fiesta, the state’s Director of Sports, Olukayode Adewunmi, said on Thursday.
Adewunmi said that Team Ekiti would feature in 15 events, including athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, hockey, taekwondo and tennis.
Others are: traditional sports (Ayo Olopon), kickboxing, weightlifting, volleyball, handball, football, special sports and squash.
The director added that the athletes are rounding up their preparations in their bid to surpass their 20th position the state placed at the 2011 "Garden City Games" in Port Harcourt.
“We are currently putting finishing touches to our preparations; we are coming into Lagos with just 150 athletes, which is rather small, in comparison to other states. We are not coming with a multitude; we are coming with athletes that will do us proud by the grace of God. We are working hard at surpassing our record at the last sports festival," he said.
“At the last festival, we came 20th with four gold, three silver and eight bronze medals. Our target is to at least win medals in all the events we are competing in."
Adewunmi said that the athletes were highly motivated and are fully set for the competition.
“The spirit is high in camp because the athletes have been sufficiently motivated by the state government and they are ready to give their all at the festival,” Adewunmi added.
Edo taekwondo coach unsure of medals
The lack of adequate facilities to train may affect the medal prospects of Edo taekwondoists at the 18th National Sports Festival, the state association’s coach, Charity Igbinedion, said on Thursday.
The coach said the taekwondoists would aspire to maintain their position as one of the leading states in the sport in the country.
The coach recalled that Edo won two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the sport at the 17th edition of the festival in Port Harcourt, which was tagged: ‘Garden City Games’.
He said that the state had yet to acquire the new recommended electronic scoring machine.
“We are still using the manual system of scoring, yet we are going to Lagos where our opponents from the other states like Lagos, Ogun, and Ondo have acquired the scoring machine.
“The taekwondoists from these states have also been in camp for the past two months, training with the machine. Our athletes will surely have some difficulty adjusting to the new technology during fights.
“I will say that because of inadequate preparation, we may not get the first position in taekwondo, but we hope to improve upon the number of medals we won in the sport at the Port Harcourt Games,'' he said.
Edo State finished in the third position at the Garden City Games, with a total of 130 medals comprising 46 gold, 41 silver and 43 bronze.
Rivers won with a total of 299 medals, including 135 gold, 79 silver and 85 bronze, followed by Delta with 252 medals comprising 82 gold, 89 silver and 81 bronze
