BENIN CITY – A Benue State Wheelchair Long-Tennis player and a member of the state contingents to the ongoing Edo 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF), Williams Terlumun Ukaria, has asserted that the NSF is an event aimed at discovering talents for the country ahead of future sporting events.
Williams who is ranked 4th in Nigeria and 500th in the world and representing Oyo State at the disabled long tennis category at the Sports Festival made the assertion while chatting with OBSERVERSports at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Monday
He said: “The National Sports Festival is about discovering and recruiting new talents and any time there is a National Sports Festival, it’s goes a long way in discovering new talents for the future”.
Revealing what informed his choice of sport, the Nigeria International said he started as a footballer when he was able until he got injured which confined him to wheelchair, hence, his current sport- wheelchair long tennis.
“So I decided to established an Academic were I coach young footballers and share ideas of the round leather game with the children
“During the EKO (Lagos) 2012 National Sports Festival, I was recruited to represent Benue State in the disability sport event. After which I left Benue to Lagos State and , this is where I met with Alex Adewale, the Edo state current Number 1 for the wheelchair tennis.
“Watching Alex playing wheelchair long tennis made me fall in love with the Sport”, he disclosed
He, however, advised disables who may be full with potentials not to be deterred by their present state, adding that “there is always ability in disability”.
