African’s women’s Table Tennis Champion, Funke Oshonaike, has said she is yet to get any response from the Sports Ministry after her victory over Egypt’s Dina Meshref.
Oshonaike reclaimed the title she won 24 years ago when she defeated Meshref at the just concluded International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African Senior Championships in Morocco.
Recently, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, urged other Nigerian athletes to emulate her, Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri after their feats in Morocco.
The sports ministry, in a statement after their achievements in Agadir, Morocco, said the performance of the trio was remarkable and a pride to the nation.
Speaking on a live programme from her base in Germany, Oshonaike revealed how the nation’s President of the Table Tennis Federation, Wahid Oshodi, encouraged her to be at the championship in Morocco.
“Barrister Wahid Oshodi was the one who told me that I should come to Morocco, that I should not be worried that the federation was going to do something as regards my ticket fares. I have not actually heard anything from the ministry up till now. But I do not think that the ministry has done something as regards refunding my money back to me.
“The reason why the Nigerian table tennis athletes receive low rating in the ITTF is because a lot of us do not participate in ITTF rated competitions. The ITTF ranking is just a number, I still believe we have a lot of talented athletes but the problem has always been funding to allow attend some of these competition for us to get better ranking.
“I still believe that the sports ministry cannot do this alone, because there are many corporate bodies and individuals who can come to our aid. These people can actually take us back to where we used to be on the continent. I am begging them if they can just come back in sponsoring table tennis so that younger athletes can take over then I can now give up. But for now, there are no athletes ready to take over from us,” she stated.
Oshonaike reclaimed the title she won 24 years ago when she defeated Meshref at the just concluded International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African Senior Championships in Morocco.
Recently, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, urged other Nigerian athletes to emulate her, Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri after their feats in Morocco.
The sports ministry, in a statement after their achievements in Agadir, Morocco, said the performance of the trio was remarkable and a pride to the nation.
Speaking on a live programme from her base in Germany, Oshonaike revealed how the nation’s President of the Table Tennis Federation, Wahid Oshodi, encouraged her to be at the championship in Morocco.
“Barrister Wahid Oshodi was the one who told me that I should come to Morocco, that I should not be worried that the federation was going to do something as regards my ticket fares. I have not actually heard anything from the ministry up till now. But I do not think that the ministry has done something as regards refunding my money back to me.
“The reason why the Nigerian table tennis athletes receive low rating in the ITTF is because a lot of us do not participate in ITTF rated competitions. The ITTF ranking is just a number, I still believe we have a lot of talented athletes but the problem has always been funding to allow attend some of these competition for us to get better ranking.
“I still believe that the sports ministry cannot do this alone, because there are many corporate bodies and individuals who can come to our aid. These people can actually take us back to where we used to be on the continent. I am begging them if they can just come back in sponsoring table tennis so that younger athletes can take over then I can now give up. But for now, there are no athletes ready to take over from us,” she stated.