The African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) have hailed the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for putting up a good atmosphere for table tennis at the 13th African Games taking place in Accra, Ghana.
The continental body described the quality of play coupled with the conducive atmosphere put in place by the host as satisfactory for all the participants ranging from the coaches to the players.
Specifically, ATTF commended Mawuko Afadzinu, a member of the LOC in charge of table tennis for putting up a good show for the participating 29 countries competing in the table tennis event of the championships.
According to Deputy President and ITTF Executive Vice President Wahid Oshodi, the tournament has once again shown that Africa has the wherewithal to host a top class tournament.
Oshodi said the standard of play was a confirmation of the quality of the organisation.
“We must commend Ghana and LOC for their reception coupled with the quality of organisation which is also reflected in the standard of play displayed by the players in the last five days of the competition. We cannot but commend for ensuring the atmosphere was conducive for the players while the hospitality has been encouraging for the teams. We have seen that Ghana is warming itself back into an elite country that can host a world class tournament. On behalf of ITTF, I congratulate the 13th African Games LOC and Mawuko Afadzinu, LOC Member and ITTF Council Member for hosting this event and also helping to showcase the talents that abound in Africa,” he added.
For the President of ATTF, Khaled El-Salhy, the large turnout of teams for the tournament has also set a new record for the games. “At Brazzaville 2015, we had over 25 countries and we thought that it was a record entry for the games but this year we had 29 countries which is a new record entry for the games. We are happy that the LOC worked tirelessly to ensure that table tennis has a befitting place to host the event. We made several efforts before the games and all the efforts worked out because of the cordial relationships between LOC and ATTF and we are happy that for us this is also the best in terms of standard of play because we are excited that the talents that will come through this event. We hope that the momentum that Ghana has can be sustained and we also seek the support of the media to ensure that table tennis returns to what it was in the 1960s and 1970s in Ghana,” the ATTF boss said.
Source: GTTA
Frederick Marfo is a sportswriter and social worker well known for his advocacy for equal chances and rights for all athletes, especially those with disabilities.
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