AS the 43rd annual Asoju Oba Cup table tennis championship serves off, Kazeem Adeniyi and Fatimo Bello have been seeded top spots in the men and women singles events.Also, a large field of over 235 players turned out to register for the five-day competition holding at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.The Guardian leant yesterday that the students of Indian Language School, Ilupeju, dominate the cadet division of the tourney with over 40 players, just as the Lagos Island-based Deen Star Club has also entered over 30 players for the event.In the seeding released by the organisers, former champion, Adeniyi, is ranked number one while former junior sensation, Ganiyu Ashimiyu, is seeded number two in the men's event. Southpaw Bello, who recently won the weekly league championship, is rated number one in the women's cadre while Anu Anjuwon is number two.One of Nigeria's international umpires, John Peters, who is also a technical official of the competition, told The Guardian that the turnout of players has been impressive as more players, especially in the cadet divisions, registered for the tournament.'I want to tell you that this is the largest turnout in recent time because we have more players, especially in the cadet divisions, taking part in the championship,' the International Table Tennis Federation blue badge umpire said.'Most importantly, I want to commend the management of Indian Language School, which has kept faith with the competition and on yearly basis encourages its students to be part of the championship.'This goes to show that the school is one of the few that have been giving sports priority. Apart from taking part, the ILS students also use the event to interact with other players, which is one of the objectives of sports globally.'According to Peters, the competition will be on knockout basis, with over 126 players competing in the cadet division; junior event has 52 players, while the senior event has 57 players jostling for honours. For the financier of the competition, Molade Okoya-Thomas, staging the tourney is void of political inclination.
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