Story by Raynald Ngwarati
THE Zimbabwe Senior Table Tennis team held its own at the Table Tennis Africa championships held in Tunisia to secure the twelfth position.
Playing against 16 of the best African teams, Team Zimbabwe had an opportunity to flex their muscle in Tunis against the continent’s best.
Tough as the assignment would have been, the team put on a brave show, which saw them finishing at position 12 in the Men’s team events.
Without female representatives, Zimbabwe could not participate in the women’s and mixed doubles events, but with a three-player team and a coach Zimbabwe took the fight to their opponents.
“We’ve had a very busy week. Our team did very well. They fought hard and we managed to come 12th out of 16 teams in the men’s team events. It’s a very good start for us as Zimbabwe. We’re moving in a positive direction. We see that Tinotenda was ranked 900 and something, but he’s now ranked 771,” said Zim Table Tennis coach, Tinashe Duri.
In singles, Zimbabwe’s efforts were not enough as they lost all their games in the first round of 64 players.
There was a chance for redemption in the doubles section, with the team composed of Tinotenda Fambira and Tatenda Mumvuma losing in the first round, before the second pair Brian Chamboko and Mesfim from Ethiopia won their first game and lost in the second round.
The tournament is set to cap off this Sunday.
