By Akpan David, Calabar
No fewer than 50 players from parts of Cross River State have entered for th 2nd edition of Cross River Table Tennis Championship (closed).
The championship named after Ntufam Edim Inok commenced from Thursday 16 December 2021 at the Tennis court of U.J. Esuene Stadium Calabar.
Coach of the state Table Tennis association, Richard Edem disclosed that the championship will holds in four categories, including Men’s Single, Women Single, Junior Single and Cadets single.
The coach said due to time constraints they will not hold the doubles event but round rubbing for each category.
He said that their big excitement is that the cadet category has up to 10 budding stars, aged between 7 and ten years old.
The coach said they are already exhibiting fantastic traits such as when properly groomed they can join African and national champions which the state has produced over time.
“Some of the African and national champions that shall feature in this year’s championship include Offiong Edem who was at last Olympics in Japan. Others are Vivian Ekpenyong, Idorenyin Udoka, and Orok Etim.
“This championship will help us discover promising stars.
“We are poised to encourage younger ones. We want to use the championship to pick new talents.”
He lamented high costs of tennis equipment which the young tennis star cannot afford to help them in their games.
He appealed for individuals and groups to help boost regular Table Tennis games and interest in the state.
