[MUST READ & SHARE] Tennis Federation decries female players performance at Glasgow via @iKanzee_RR

Lagos- The Nigeria Table Tennis Federation
(NTTF) was disappointed with the performance
of the country’s female table tennis players at
the just-concluded Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow, Scotland, an official has said.
Anderson Bankole, the NTTF Technical
Director, said in Lagos that some of the
female players in the team were not
committed and patriotic enough.
He said the players did not play like those
who wanted to win, adding that he was not
surprised by the situation Team Nigeria found
itself in Glasgow.
“Two of them did not show up at the camp in
Nigeria, prior to our departure for the Games.
Nigeria finished in the eighth position on the
Games’ overall table with 11 gold, 11silver
and 14 bronze medals.
But only a bronze medal, in the team event,
came Nigeria’s way, even when table tennis
was one of Team Nigeria’s major medal
hopes.
The bronze medal won in Glasgow however
surpassed Nigeria’s performance at the 2010
Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India
where the country’s team won no medal.
“Cecilia Otu-Akpan and Edem Offiong did not
attend the federation’s camp, even when we
made several efforts to make them join in our
preparations for the Games.
“But the federation decided to take them to
Scotland because we felt that with their
experience, they will make an impact in the
team,’’ Bankole said.
He, however, said that more attention would
now be given to the junior female players
following the disappointing performance of the
senior players at the Games.
The NTTF technical director said the way out
of the situation was to properly groom the
junior players.
“The federation will now be laying emphasis
on the junior players. They will be well
groomed and exposed to competitions.
“We want to start preparing them for the next
Commonwealth Games and the Olympics,
because we don’t want another
disappointment,’’ he said.
Bankole said since some of the national
players were getting older, there was need for
the federation to start a replacement process
by exposing the younger ones to international
competitions.(NAN)