The 55th Edition of 2023 Asoju Oba Table Tennis Tournament served off on a low-key on Monday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tournament, which usually features 22 events for five days will only feature 16 events for three days this year.
John Peters, the offical referee for the tournament, said some top ranked players would play at the quarter finals and finals stages of the competition.
He said though the tournament was low-key he hoped that this year’s tournament would fulfil the ideals of the founder of the competition.
“The family does not want to discontinue the competition, so they decided to do it on a low-key.
“They want to continue to carry on the legacy of their father, that is why we have 16 events instead of 22.
“The competition will also hold for three days instead of five days.
“We have men’s singles and doubles as well as women’s singles and doubles, and for para we have men and women’s singles class six to ten,” he said.
Peter, who said 75 participants had registered for the tournament, noted that some players were seeded to play at the finals and quarter finals because of their rankings. READ ALSO:
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“We have 55 male and 21 female. Out of the registered male participants, eight will go straight to the finals because of their current ranking.
“Others are pulled to 16 groups; two to qualify from each group to make 32 players and then they play knock out amongst themselves.
“First round knock out, second round knock out and first round will take them to the round of 16; second round takes them to round of 8.
“Then the eight will join the other eight players that had been seeded to the final round, also the women that had been seeded to the final round space because of their present rankings,” he said. (NAN)
