Winner of the Sixth Ships & Ports Table Tennis Championship, Jeremiah Ikoko of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (centre); first runner-up, Phillip Amebe of Nigerian Ports Authority (left); and second runner up, Sunday Otaru of Bollore Logistics (right) after the presentation of prizes at the championship held in Lagos…at the weekend.
An employee of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Jeremiah Ikoko has won the Sixth Ships & Ports Table Tennis Championship.The event, which holds yearly and was sponsored by Dangote Ports Operations and the Nigerian Shippers Council, took place at the Apapa Club in Lagos on Saturday.
Declaring the event open, the Chief Executive Officer of Ships & Ports, Mr. Bolaji Akinola said the championship was instituted to promote healthy interaction among maritime industry workers.
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He said to ensure high standard and fairness, the tournament employed certified umpires drawn from the Table Tennis Umpires Association of Nigeria. Sixty participants drawn from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT), Lagos Channel Management (LCM), Dangote Port Operations, Bollore Shipping, ENL Consortium and the Maritime Microfinance Bank (MMFB), among others, took part in the championship.
Two employees of the NPA, Kehinde Borokini, a four-time winner of the championship and Phillip Amebe, Jeremiah Ikoko of NIMASA and Sunday Otaru, a shipping manager with Bollore Logistics and also the defending champion, beat all other contestants to qualify for the semifinal stage.
For the third place, Otaru played against Borokini and won a prize of N30,000 after defeating her.Ikoko beat Amebe to win the title and the accruing N100, 000 prize money for the winner, while Amebe received N50, 000 for his efforts.Elated at his success, Ikoko praised the organisers of the event, saying, “It is a welcome development. This is the second time I am participating in it. Last year the players were fewer; we were not up to 30. This year, more people turned up.
“The standard of play has also improved. I believe this championship will go further in the next two years. I am convinced more people from NIMASA will participate for next year’s event.”
Source: G Sport
