Joburg hosts Southern African Regional Table Tennis contest
The stage is set for South Africa to host the prestigious Southern African Regional Table Tennis Championships from Thursday, June 30, to Sunday, July 3, at the Hunter McClare Multipurpose Sports Centre, Mercury Street in Brixton, Johannesburg.
The respective winners of the African Regional Championships will qualify for the African Table Tennis Championships which take place in Algiers in October this year which, in turn, is the precursor and qualifying tournament for the World Table Tennis Championships, proudly hosted in Durban, South Africa from 22 to 28 May 2023.
The Southern African Regional Championships – one of five African Regional tournaments – will feature champions from eight countries participating in four events, namely the Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events.
African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) Competitions Manager, Mr Kudzanani Motswagole said the tournament is welcomed after a long break due to the pandemic.
He said participating in the event are highly ranked national champions from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and, of course, from hosts South Africa.
“The level of table tennis is going to be world class. There is a lot at stake, as the respective winners will qualify for the African Championships in Algiers later this year and, depending on how well they do there – and we fully expect them to – we could very well see them again in Durban next year for the World Champs,” he explained.
The Regional Champs are normally held once every two years; however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the last tournament was held in 2019 in Lesotho.
Motswagole confirmed thst that entrance to the tournament is free.
Matches at the Hunter McCleary Multipurpose Centre will start at the following times:
- Thursday, 30 June: 09h00
- Friday, 1 July: 10h00
- Saturday, 2 July: 10h00
- Sunday, 3 July: 10h00
“The sport of table tennis is growing in leaps and bounds in Southern Africa, and the last thing we want to do is to discourage the exponentially escalating interest and passion in the sport, by asking people to pay to watch a sport that they love.
“Our youth have especially taken to the sport in their droves, so we have deliberately timed the tournament to take place during school holidays, so that they can enjoy the expert level of table tennis on display from high-ranking champions,” he said.