Pingpong: Black Loopers outplay all in Benin
A four-member table tennis contingent from the Ghana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has won this year’s Africa Table Tennis Federation Zone III Championship held in Benin.
The team- the Black Loopers, won three gold and a silver to stay atop the medal table. Host Benin came second with gold, two silver and a bronze.
Togo followed with two bronze in a competion, which saw Team Ghana’s quartet of Felix Lartey, Emmanuel Commey, Linda Annor and Cynthia Kwabi, led by national team coach, Anthony Owusu-Ansah, hoist the national flag to the highest.
Felix Lartey won the men’s single event, while Linda Annor captured the women’s single.
In the doubles, Linda Annor partnered Cynthia Kwabi to win the women’s team event.
But host, Benin defeated the men from Ghana to come home with a 3-1 victory.
The event, an annual competition and organised by the Africa Tennis Federation Zone III Championship, is aimed at bringing together players of the zone to compete for honours and to improve upon their rankings in the sub-zone and in Africa.
Coach Anthony-Owusu-Ansah while congratulating the players noted that the team prepared well for the tournament.
He said “The Zone III tournament was very competitive and consistently we have seen new talents competing fiercely.
A critical observation of the performance of the entire team has revealed remarkable improvement and gradual approach to overcome factors militating against their play; “Ghana has been performing well in the tournament as such we came here to uphold the flag of Ghana’, he noted.
The team was sponsored by Asky Airlines, a leading Pan African airline with operations into several African destinations and beyond.
The acting President of the Ghana Table Tennis Association, Mawuko Afadzinu, said the exposure of the team to more playing time in recent times was paying off.
‘’The association is determined to raise the image of Ghana table tennis. In the past few years, we have organised frequent tournaments to unearth new talents and also imporve on the play of the existing champions.
This is paying off now as we have seen in this highly competitive Africa Zone III tournament. We will continue to make table tennis a bright star in Ghana’s sports’, Mr Afadzinu stressed.
By Kwame Larweh/Graphic Sports/Ghana
