Olasumbo Dele, a six-time winner of the Asoju-Oba Table Tennis Championships, on Monday said that emerging players lacked the capacity to erase his record in the championships.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 49th edition of the annual championships served-off at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Monday, and would end on December 1.
The competition was initiated by the late business mogul, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas.
Dele, who won the championship back-to-back in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1982, served as the Head Coach of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association.
The former champion told NAN that his achievement in the championships launched him into limelight.
He said: “I started table tennis at the age of nine at the Campus Square. Then, my coach always preached self-discipline to me and other young players.
“The first time I participated in the championships was in 1968 as a junior player before I went on to win six times.
“I have always wanted a player to erase my record in the Asoju Oba Championships, but it is unfortunate that the crop of players we have at present are not measuring up to the task.”
Dele commended the family of the late Okoya-Thomas for continuing with the tournament.
Okoya-Thomas died on February 1, 2015 at the age of 79.
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