Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship Serves Off Nov 4th Without Chief Okoya Thomas

The 47th edition of the Asoju Oba Molade Okoya Thomas Table Tennis championship has been scheduled to hold on November 30th to December 4th 2015.

This year's edition, which is in commemoration of late Chief Molade Okoya Thomas has a total of 22 trophies three different categories- Cadet, Intermediate and senior categories.

The organisers also disclosed that the most valuable players in both male and female categories will be rewarded with cash and material prizes at the end of the championship.

Meanwhile, the special adviser to the Lagos state governor on sports, Deji Tinubu pledged the support of the Lagos State Sports Commission to the success of the event, adding that the commission's contribution will be unveiled during the championship.

"Lagos state must support this edition with cash prize which will be revealed to everyone during the period of the championship,"

"To be honest, this championship hasn't been restricted, it's an open championship where we've had people outside of lagos participate as well. Remember I said it's been a place for national champions, so it's not just from Lagos, we have participants from other states."

"This is the very first that this commission will be involved in, and again, in the course of the days, the commission will go public with what it's going to do to support the championship because we must support the organisers to ensure success and keep the flag flying."

"Other philanthropists must emulate what Chief Molade Okoya Thomas has done in the last 46 years and sustain it."

Also, the president of the Lagos Table Tennis Federation, Arc. Femi Sokoya has commended the Molade Okoya Thomas' family for taking off from where their late father stopped, saying the zeal and enthusiasm he's seen further explains the greatness of Chief Okoya Thomas.

"So clear from what I've seen that the children are more than capable of taking over the mantle and to continue the legacy of Chief Molade Okoya Thomas, I'm so proud and happy that they've done so and it shows that the man, truly was a great man."

Certainly there are no complaints whatsoever, everything is running smoothly, and it seems the spirit of Baba is still here with us and there's absolutely no problem."

"Yes it actually is achieving it's objectives 'cos most of the players that had participated in this championship have moved on to various countries all over the world, and some have played for Nigeria, in fact, the competition has developed, we've lost some players along the way while others have taken it to the next level, but above all, we've had a lot of players with lots of potentials and promise."

They have a lot to learn from the legacy Baba. Has laid down, it is almost impossible for anyone to achieve a feat of 46 years, but you'll start from somewhere and I encourage all other states to follow suit and do something."

Don't be discouraged even if you don't go far in the competition, just keep practicing, keep training and the sky will be your limit, hard work pays off at the end of the day."