A very large enthusiastic crowd of officials and athletes watched as Team Nigeria hoisted the national flag at the athletes’ village with Kizz Daniel’s Buga song creating a rapturous scene.

What was meant to be a small ceremony turned out big as athletes from other countries jumped in showing off their dancing skills to the Buga song.

The Commonwealth Games starts today till 8 August as over 5,000 athletes will compete in 19 different sports as England hosts the event for the third time in its history.

Nigeria Olympic Committee Secretary General, Banji Oladapo who was delighted with the reception given the team as Nigeria’s Green-White- Green flag fluttered in the air, said that Nigeria would fight for all medals exhibiting discipline and respect and abiding by the rules of the Games.

Team Nigeria will be represented by 127 athletes in 17 disciplines at the Games.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s table tennis team will today know their group stage opponents in the men and women team events today as the draws for the events take place in Birmingham.

Nigeria’s men’s team is number two seed behind host England who are top seeds as well as India, the number three seed for the men’s team event. The three teams will avoid each other in the group stages but a possible quarter final or semifinal clashes may happen among the three top teams.

The Nigeria’s women’s team are not listed among the top five teams with Singapore heading the seeding list and there is a potential meeting between Nigeria and any of the top five teams in the group stage of the event.

However, for the men, judging by his form this year and ascending the World Table Tennis Rankings, the player to note is Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, the men’s singles runner up four years ago in Gold Coast, when beaten in the final by Singapore’s now retired Gao Ning.

Home for table tennis is the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), being the first ever event in the spacious complex which hosted the 1977 World Table Tennis Championships, the premises are on the same site as Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station. (The Nation)

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