Rivers state Para Table Tennis player, Oke Tolulope has called on the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) support the National Para Table Tennis Team.
Tolulope told www.aclsports.com that the Para Table Tennis players need to get more exposure like their counterparts in the Para Powerlifting.
He said the only national championship the players attend is the National Sports Festival which comes up every two years.
He said, “If Para Table Tennis can also get as much exposure as the para powerlifters, they would do better and winning medals for the country. I observed that many Nigerians are condemning the team because they did not put up a good performance at the Tokyo Paralympics Games.
“Our medals always come from the Para Powerlifting athletes at the Paralympics Games because they get supports to attend international championships before the Paralympics”.
The National Sports Festival is only our hope which is every two years and the Festival most times suffers many postponed.
He revealed that most of the Para Table Tennis players who qualified for the Paralympics Game sponsored themselves to some of the qualifiers.
Tolulope said, “The players that went to Paralympics Game in Tokyo, sponsored themselves to all tournaments that qualified them for the Games. Para Table Tennis needs more and more exposure from government and the private sector”.
