BY ANDREW EKEJIUBA
The third edition of UGS Consultant and Ibrahim Galadima Table Tennis Championships has been slated for November 3 and November 5, 2021, respectively in Kano.
Coach Salaudeen Mushafi’u told The Point that all necessary arrangements have been in top gear towards the success of both tournaments.
He explained that 32 players will feature in the UGS Consultant tourney while 16 players will slug it out in Ibrahim Galadima’s Championship Cup.
The Coach added that the preliminary rounds of both competitions commenced on October 30 and 31 respectively, while the main draws will hold this week. The finals will come up at the Indoor Sports Hall of Sani Abacha Sports Complex, Kofar Mata.
Mushafi’u said the competition’s sponsor and the Chief Executive Officer of UGS Consultant, Sulaiman Musa Sulkhan, has been sponsoring the two competitions as part of his efforts to identify the hidden talents for future national and international engagements.
He then applauded Sulkhan for his commitment and zeal especially in keeping teeming youths busy through sports, while appealing to other wealthy individuals and corporate organisations to emulate him by sponsoring more competitions in the country.
He, however, called on the state government to build an indoor table tennis facility in order to encourage and support the teeming players to actualise their set objective.
“Table tennis is an indoor game, but here in Kano, we lack those facilities. We were forced to play outdoor which has a lot of consequences toward mastering the game by the players.
“We believe Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has keen interest in sports and he loves to see things being perfectly in the state, so we appeal to him to come to our rescue,” the coach said.
Mushafi’u further stated that if the state government could construct indoor table tennis hall, there is no doubt that the state will definitely improve on its national rankings.
He then urged the competition’s sponsor to continue to contribute his quota by sponsoring the events annually in order to assist the players to become self-reliant in the society.
The coach then announced that the Executive Chairman of Kano State Sports Commission, Ibrahim Galadima, is expected to be the special guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the competition slated for Friday, November 5, 2021, at Sani Abacha Sports Complex, Kofar Mata.
