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Offiong Edem
By Akpan David, Calabar
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has donated Table Tennis equipment to the Offiong Edem Foundation to help train upcoming budding Table Tennis players in Cross River State.
This was confirmed by Offiong Edem who is a 34-year-old Cross River State born Table Tennis champion.
She has again qualified for the upcoming Japan Olympics for the fourth time.
Based in Spain, she disclosed that ITTF and her friends donated Barts, Canvasses, Tee-Shirts, and others to support her Foundation.
30 kids and teenagers who are registered members of the Foundation received the Table Tennis training kits from the Offiong Edem at UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar.
Speaking to journalists, Offiong who was discovered in 1997 in Ondo State championship, said: “ITTF was excited when they learnt about my Foundation, which reason they sent in all these equipment to support the training of these children. There are 30 of them being trained by my Foundation.
“I am giving the equipment, including stationery and other food palliatives all out to these budding kids.
“These kids cannot afford to buy any of these equipment. For instance, a bart costs over N150,000. I do this to give back to the society and to discover many more budding Offiong Edems since I don’t want Table Tennis in Cross River to end at Offiong Edem.”
According to her, there are some stars that her Foundation has already discovered who have won junior championships already.
Towards the Olympics, she said she is very happy that she has again qualified for the fourth time after the All African Games, owing to the supports she receives from the National Olympics Committee (NOC).
“I am very grateful to the NOC. They have been very supportive to me towards this year’s Olympics. Though I am well prepared for the Olympics, but I need more equipment for my training as I move to national camp from 3rd July 2021.”
