A junior secondary school student in Lagos, Daniel Hassan has set his mind on getting his breakthrough at the upcoming National Table Tennis Championship in Lagos, megasportsarena.com reports.
Heading into the competition of various age categories, which is scheduled to begin this Tuesday at Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Hassan, whose father is from Osun State and his mother hails from Abia, has already dropped his football boots in preference for the ping-pong board.
Consequently, the youngster, who is the captain of Will-B Excellence Secondary School, Ikotun’s junior football team, has sensationally opted to seek a career in table tennis instead of soccer, and he is taking some of his colleagues along with him.
The fair-skinned Hassan has always shown a love for table tennis, as his profile on social media has a bat and one of his hobbies is the sport made poplar in China, which the lad says he believes can propel him to take after the like of Atanda Musa, Yomi Bankole and Aruna Quadri.
A hint in this direction was provided last weekend, when Hassan turned up at the sports hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos in company of three schoolmates, with intent to begin weekly training sessions under technical experts of the ping-pong sport.
However, of the four lads that turned up on the epochal day in May to commence training under the guidance of Coach Ope and his assistant, Coach Lawal, only Hassan and his pal in JS3 at Will-B School, Anthony Chukwuzubelu were specifically meant for table tennis, while their classmate, Samuel Clifford and SS2 pal, Desmond Ojieh were for athletics.
As it turned out, though, Desmond and his colleague arrived late for track and field drills under the care of Coach Dennis and renowned Olympian, Enefiok Udo-Obong, such that they ended up joining Hassan and Anthony at the table tennis pool in the sports hall.
As it were, Anthony emerged table tennis champion at the recent mini-sports festival of Will-B Excellence Secondary School, during which he beat Clifford in the final, while Hassan ended up in third place, such that it was not any surprise when the sports master arranged for them to start getting proper training and exposure under the charge of the Lagos State coaches.
They were so opportune that their arrival at the sports hall coincided with preparations for the 2021 National Table Tennis Championship at same venue, and the youngsters quickly signified their interest in being part of the contest that is scheduled to begin this Tuesday.
The story took another dramatic turn when information about their visit to Surulere was part of the weekly news bulletin on the assembly ground of their school by members of the press and debate club, such that other ping-pong talents of the institution also started expressing interest in being part of the new zeal.
That has led to a situation in which other top performers during the recent sports festival are also now thinking of joining Hassan et al this Saturday for the next stage of weekly regimented training and preparations for the national championship.
As Saturday approaches, the onus is now on the lads to make the very best of their new found lease of life at Teslim Balogun Stadium, where they are expected to return for the next stage of their quest for the breakthrough, as they carry the fast-growing banner of all-round sports aloft at Will-B Excellence Secondary School, in Abogunloko area of Ikotun, Lagos.
Ojieh captured the passion when he declared: “I did not know that I could run until I came to Will-B. It is here that I found out that I can run and I believe if I get real training regularly I can really make a name through athletics.”
