One of the Nigerian promising professional Table Tennis star, Tobi Falana has revealed his target to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.
Falana, who has spent over five years playing professionally in Italy said his main goal is to achieve significant global rankings and accolades.
Regarded as one of the future of the game in Nigeria and Africa , Tobi was Born on December 14, 1998, in Ilorin and currently plays professional Table Tennis for TT Centro Sportivo Bonacossa in Italy.
With a humble background, he studied Business Administration at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin and started playing table tennis at the age of eight.
Tobi has excelled in national and international tournaments, winning numerous medals for Nigeria.
Notably, he competed in the International Table Tennis Nigeria Open (2013-2018) and the 2019 Portugal Open, 2019 Africa senior table tennis team champion.
Tobi made the news headline in 2022 when he distributed Table Tennis materials to players in his home state of Kwara as part of his own effort to give back to the society and also contribute to the development of sports.
In an interview with this reporter, Tobi noted that his trajectory to becoming a professional player has been quite challenging due to lack of sponsorship.
“My experience pursuing my professional aspirations internationally has been quite demanding due to the absence of sponsorship.
According to him , he has had to rely on self-funding for his involvement and participation in international competitions, which has proven to be quite financially burdensome.
Despite constraints, Tobi, who has been able to participate in one international tournament this year is determined to explore opportunities to be able to go for more outings.
“My goal is to participate in the 2028 Olympics and also attend multiple international tournaments this year. International tournaments provide me with the opportunity to compete against the best players”
His ping pong prowess saw him win the Italian Table Tennis league title with TT Ennio Cristofaro -dell’aera C&R.
“Winning the league title has been challenging. As the team’s number one player, my team and I struggled for three years, consistently finishing second or third.we eventually secured the league title in our third year” he said
In the just concluded season, Tobi had an outstanding performance with his former club Tennistavolo Torre del Greco ASD where he secured a solid 4th position.
Driven by his desire to achieve more feats in academics, Tobi is currently attending an online class on the Web3 blockchain. This according to him,will avail him on opportunity to further enhance his profile.
On giving back to the society, he said “This has always been my priority. This year, I had planned to come home for the summer holiday as I always do and give back to my people, but due to some personal reasons, I canceled my trip to Nigeria.
“I believe that the more successful I become in my career, the more I’ll be able to help young players and inspire them with my story, showing them that they too can achieve great things.
He advocates for financial assistance and grants for Table Tennis players in order for them to attend competitions and training tour
“Nigeria is really blessed with a lot of talents but players need support to attend tournaments and training camps because
Table tennis is an expensive sport to play”.
“The availability of funding is crucial due to the high level of competition. Both young and senior Italian table tennis players frequently travel to international tournaments and attend special training programs. Additionally, having personal connections or recommendations can help these players secure spots in major European clubs” he said.
