ITTF AFRICA YOUTH TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN GABORONE, BOTSWANA

July 29, 2024 19

The Namibia Table Tennis Association (NTTA), after an absence of more than 20 years, participated in the Africa Youth Table Tennis Championships, which was hosted by the Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) in Gaborone from 15 – 21 July 2024. The championships were for under 19 (juniors) and under 15 (cadets) and allowed for team events, singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Namibia entered only athletes in the under 15 categories and for all events.

We anticipated a very high standard of competition, particularly from northern and eastern African countries. Our expectation from our young team, with no international experience was a top 8 finish in the team events, top 8 in the doubles’ events and top 16 in the singles events.

The under 15 event was dominated by Egypt, Tunisia and Uganda. Both the ladies and the boys’ teams reached the top 6 (no play-offs for 5 and 6 th places) and Cadence Farmer reached the last 16 in the ladies’ singles. In doubles our teams faced strong draws and no team progressed to the quarter finals (top 8).

The championships highlighted a significant gap in playing level of Namibia versus the top 6 teams in Africa. However, Namibia was very competitive against teams from Southern Africa, including South Africa and Botswana. Our young stars played bravely and recorded wins against Southern African teams and even took sets against the powerhouses of the North and East.

he NTTA Management acknowledges that our teams need to work harder to become more competitive but is satisfied with their performances, even though not all objectives were met. We are confident that our teams will be a strong contender and will return with medals from the under-15 Southern Africa Regional Championships in the first week of December 2024.

The Namibian Youth Table Tennis Teams were represented by: