A total of 33 players was on Thursday disqualified over age falsification at the maiden edition of the Efunkoya National Cadet Table Tennis Championships.
The tournament Director, John Peters, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that 82 players registered nationwide for the championships restricted to the U-15 Boys’ and Girls’ categories.
Peters said that the screening, which took place on Thursday in the Indoor Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, was conducted by a committee sponsored by the Efunkoya Foundation.
“We had 82 registered players and they all went through screening which has been completed.
“It was a very strict and meticulous exercise, and the purpose was achieved because we were able to screen out 33 over-aged players.
“Dr Efunkoya, the man who is being honoured through the championships was a very disciplined and transparent administrator; we must bring that to bear because the competition is in his memory,’’ he said.
The director, who is also an international table tennis umpire, told NAN that qualified players were happy because the process was fair and transparent.
He added that the record would form a data base to monitor the progress of the U-15 players and to guard against age falsification.
“At least we have been able to make the playing atmosphere favourable, and the qualified players are satisfied that they are competing with their age mates.
“We have also taken advantage of the screening to have a genuine data base of age ages 15 and below, which we will use to monitor them in subsequent and related table tennis championships,’’ Peters said.
According to him, the players were drawn from 10 states, namely: Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Kwara, Ondo State, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos State, while registered Zamfara and Akwa-Ibom players are still being expected.
NAN reports that the competition began on Thursday shortly after the screening. It will end on July 27. (NAN)