Asoju Oba Cup: 50 years of thrilling table tennis fiesta

From the first flying strokes in 1968 when the maiden tournament took place in Lagos, the Asoju Oba Cup Table Tennis Championship has been held annually without fail for five decades. Initiated and single-handedly bankrolled by the late business mogul, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, the Asoju Oba Cup remians Nigeria’s longest running table tennis tournament. Although Okoya-Thomas died in 2015, the championship continues to wax stronger. OLALEKAN OKUSAN writes on the impact of the tournament on local sports.

FIFTY years ago, the then Oba of Lagos, Adeyinka Oyekan, conferred the Asoju Oba title on 32-year-old Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, a former athlete and business mogul. The sports-loving Okoya-Thomas decided to mark the joyous event with a table tennis tournament. Christened Asoju Oba Cup, the inaugural tournament drew athletes from Lagos State only. The beginning was small, even localised. However, that auspicious start has continued uninterrupted for 50 years, outliving its founder, Sir Okoya-Thomas, who passed on in 2015.

From the outset, the late Okoya-Thomas held high hopes for the competition and envisioned its current global ratings. Thus, he made it a good point to commission and import the glittering trophies awarded to winners from Japan and backed them with big prizes, cash and material. As the Asoju Oba Cup morphed into a top-draw table tennis competition which got all of Lagos and Nigeria buzzing, the Lagos State government saw its immeasurable potential and came on board with its support through the Lagos State Table Tennis Association.

As the longest running table tennis tournament in Nigeria, the Asoju Oba Cup has been the platform where Nigeria’s table tennis stars were born in epic match-day battles that have entered the country’s table tennis lore. Fans of the sport in the 80s would readily recall the frenzy build-up to the competition and the utterly electrified stratospheres in which the table tennis Colossi, Atanda Musa and the late Yomi Bankole clashed in the finals. They will also recall the exploits of the ladies as exemplified by past winners in the women’s game, especially, Olawunmi Majekodunmi, Bose Kaffo and Olufunke Oshonaike, who rather appears ageless now as the 2017 crowned African Women’s Singles champion.

Torrents of testimonies

Going down the memory lane, first winner of the Asoju Oba Cup and former national table tennis coach, Babatunde Obisanya, said it all began at the popular Alakoro Training Centre on Lagos Island.

“We used to train at the Alakoro Training Centre and one day, the then Secretary of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association, Olasuyi Ajayi, walked into the hall with a suit-wearing gentleman. After our training, he introduced the well-suited man as Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas who wanted to sponsor a table tennis competition.

“We were all excited because this was what we had been looking forward to and we all welcomed the idea. In the first edition, we had 20 male and 12 female.

“Among the male then were Waheed Daudu and Lassey Wilson while in the female we had the likes of Modupe Beyioku and Mowunmi Johnson. That was how the tournament started at the Alakoro Training Centre on Lagos Island.

“We all looked forward to every December for the competition because the gift items that most times came with winning matches at the tournament and the competition itself made us to enjoy the festive season.

“I could not believe that I got such numerous gifts when I won the maiden edition in 1968. I was really stunned and this made me to enjoy the festive season even more and I always looked forward to the tournament annually.”

After emerging as the men’s singles champion at the maiden edition of the Asoju Oba Cup, Obisanya claimed the title several times before yielding the space upcoming players.

On the impact of the tournament on the local table tennis scene, Obisanya said: “For us, Asoju Oba has been the springboard for every player that made it to the national team as majority of us that featured in the tournament moved up to the national team.

“I must admit that the late Chief Okoya-Thomas was the pillar of table tennis in Lagos and Nigeria because he loved the game and he supported the players in their careers. For me, winning the maiden Asoju Oba Cup really boosted my confidence to aim for the national team.

“I must also admit that Asoju Oba is the bedrock of talent for the national teams. When I was the national coach, the tournament was one of the platforms from where players were invited to the national team.

“As a coach, you cannot ignore the talents from Asoju Oba as a good number of top players in the country were discovered through this competition,” Obisanya said.

The former national team handler said that with more of the late Okoya-Thomas in the country, Nigerian sports would take a turn for the better. He lauded the family of the late business mogul for keeping the legacy of Okoya-Thomas alive by no allowing the dream to die after his demise in 2015.

For Atanda Musa, the Asoju Oba Cup was his ticket to national and international stardom.

The rivalry between Atanda Musa and the late Yomi Bankole became the climax of the competition in the 1980s, especially when a Peugeot Saloon Car was staked as the star prize by the sponsor.

“I cannot underestimate the impact Asoju Oba made in my life and career because the late Okoya-Thomas contributed immensely to my life. When I was an employee of the Lagos State Sports Council and Chief Okoya-Thomas was the chairman, he supported me immensely to become what I am today.

“He personally contributed 90 per cent to my success in life. It was through the tournament that I got my first car which was a Peugeot 504 saloon car when I defeated Yomi Bankole in the final. The tournament drew a lot of attention to table tennis in Lagos and Nigeria.

‘We always looked forward to the competition being the end-of-the-year event where gift items were dished out to the players,” the New York-based Musa said.

The erstwhile coach of Saudi Arabia described the late Okoya-Thomas as a role model and philanthropist, who used his resources to better the lives of many youths in Lagos.

Musa said: “Chief Okoya-Thomas has gone, but what he did while he was alive would remain with so many of us because it was through the Asoju Oba Cup that most of us made it to the national team and our performance improved tremendously.

“My life would not have been what it is today without the support I got from Chief Okoya-Thomas particularly through the tournament, which remains the best in Lagos.”

Like Atanda Musa, Germany-based Olufunke Oshonaike, another former champion of the annual Asoju Oba Cup described the tournament as an avenue for players to get great gift items and advance their playing careers.

Oshonaike, who was the 2017 African Champion, said. said: “I cannot quantify the impact Asoju Oba had on my career. It is one of the competitions in Lagos where good players emerge and I could remember vividly that it was the television set that I won at Asoju Oba that was the first TV set in my house.

“Most of us looked forward to the tournament because of the numerous gift items that the sponsor used to dole out to players.  We could not imagine missing the competition and it became part of our plans every year.

“Apart from the tournament, the late Chief Okoya-Thomas was a father to all of us players because he gave his all to us. He was passionate about the sport and particularly, he showed love to the players as most of the players that used to take part in the competition were from poor home. So, through this competition, we got gift items that we probably would not have gotten in life.”

Former Lagos State Table Tennis Association Chairman Wahid Oshodi, described the Asoju Oba Cup as the bedrock of modern table tennis in Nigeria.

He said: “The Asoju Oba Cup is the bedrock and foundation of modern day table tennis in Nigeria. A great majority of our top players over the last 50 years honed their craft playing in this tournament.  To win the Asoju Oba Cup would be the crowning glory of any player and a stepping stone into the national teams.

“The national coaches over the years themselves have all come through this tournament and they in turn use it as a hunting ground for young talent.

“One should also note that with the Asoju Oba Cup unlike other tournaments the prizes don’t end with the tournament but Chief (as the table tennis world calls him) continued to support the players’ education and careers. He along with Late Dr. Efunkoya and a very select few are the true fathers of table tennis in Nigeria.”

The former president of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) added: “This tournament was our Olympics in Lagos. It was a week-long jamboree. Different categories of players from veterans of yesteryears, to mini cadets, all had a stake. It was always something to look forward to and it was a festival of table tennis.

“For us on the technical side, it gave us a great chance to see how the players performed under the gaze of the large crowds that always came to watch. It was a test not only of skill but composure also which is very important for a top player.

“Chief gave massive financial support to the tournament and the players. It just made us so proud that such a tournament existed in our city. If we were sometimes doubtful about funding for our events, this was not the case for the Asoju Oba Cup.

“Months before we would start preparation, which would climax in the presentation of the giant, magnificent trophies imported from Japan.

“Lagos had always been the number one state in table tennis in Nigeria and without any doubt, that was due to the Asoju Oba Cup and Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas. His tenacity in being the best spread over all of us and he encouraged us to be better year upon year,” the former Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Sports added.

In the 1980s, the fierce competition between Musa and Bankole attained loftier heights, with Atanda becoming the first table tennis player in Nigeria to win a new Peugeot 504 car for claiming the Asoju Oba Men’s Singles title at the expense of Bankole.

Similarly, Seun Ajetunmobi, Ganiat Ogundele and Olajide Omotayo, all Men’s Singles champions, were driven away from the competition in new cars following their Men’s Singles successes.

Oladele Sumbo remains the record holder in the tournament as he is a six-time winner of the Asoju-Oba Cup, having won the championship back to back in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1982. Thereafter, he served as the Head Coach of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association.

Sharing his experience, Sumbo said: “I started playing table tennis at the age of nine at the Campos Square. Then, my coach always preached self-discipline to me and other young players. The first time I participated in the Asoju Oba Cup was in 1968 as a junior player before I went on to win six times.”

The late Chief Okoya-Thomas’ contributions to sports in Lagos and Nigeria cannot be overestimated. For 48 of his 79 years on earth, he staged the Asoju Oba Cup tournament uninterrupted. Before his demise, Okoya-Thomas was the chairman of the Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund.

He also served as chairman on many sports’ fund raising committees and was instrumental to the formation of Team Nigeria in 2003. He died on February 1, 2015 but his children have kept the tournament’s flag flying in the last three years. Lovers of the game await the thrills and frills of the longest table tennis competition in Nigeria, which returns this month.

Family vows to uphold tournament’s legacy

Despite his demise, the late Chief Okoya-Thomas’ family has vowed to uphold the legacy of his table tennis tournament, with plans to stage a befitting golden jubilee this year.

Family spokesman Deji Okoya-Thomas described this year’s edition as unique with all arrangements in place to make it colourful.

He said: “Managing and organising the tournament after the demise of our father have been interesting. We had obviously all been involved in assisting him in past competitions and we were therefore familiar with certain aspects of the organisation. God has obviously been gracious in granting the resources needed to continue to host the tournament annually.

“The family intends to mark the 50th anniversary in a big way with a mouth-watering star prize for the winners in the men and women singles final.

“The grand finale is scheduled for November 30, and it will be the most colorful since the 45th edition and will attract a lot of dignitaries who will come and honor our late father with their presence.

“This year, being the golden jubilee, is unique and the arrangement going into it is much more than that last year and we hope this will translate into a memorable event. Fifty years is a very long time. So, the achievement of hosting this competition for that long must be well celebrated,” he said.

Acknowledging the support from the Lagos State Government, he said: “The Lagos State Government has always supported this competition in one way or the other. I must use this opportunity to thank past governors, who have shown immense support and graced the competition with their presence.

“We will also like to thank Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for continuing with this tradition of support for the competition,” he added.