End of the road for table tennis duo
Lekopanye Mooketsi | Monday May 26, 2014 11:35
The team of Peo Thebe (boys) and Olarato Ramagapu (girls) sailed through to the last 16 but faced tough competition that halted its progress. Botswana was in the same group with Tunisia and Ghana in the boys’ singles.
Although he was beaten by Isaac Amoaka of Ghana, Thebe and his opponent advanced to the second round because Tunisian player, Kereme Ben Yahia did not turn up for the games.
In the last 16, Thebe was put in the same group with Christ Bienatiki of Congo Brazzaville, Ali Kanate of Cote D’Ivoire and Choolwe Hamalambo of Zambia. The Botswana lad lost all the three games that he played against his Group D opponents.
In the women’s singles, Ramagapu was placed in the same group with Fagr Shoman of Egypt and Malado Sidibe of Mali.
She proceeded to the second stage to fight for a top 16 slot but like Thebe she lost all her games in the round to Ruth Travares of Angola, Pascale Maria Chowree of Mauritius and Verra Bokockou-Lobolo of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
After the losses, Thebe said his preparations were fine only that he was up against tough and experienced opponents.
He said Botswana players still have along way to go to catch up with their counterparts in the rest of the continent.
Thebe said he learnt so much from the tournament. He now has more knowledge in basics like power speed and movement. The coach of the table tennis team, Odirile Bagwasi said his players were out of their depths in the tournament because of the high calibre of opponents.
“The players need our encouragement as a nation so that they could grow. We are moving in the right direction. We want to elevate our team to another level. Such tournaments are a learning curve for us. We learn everyday. Winners are losers who never give up,” he said rather philosophically.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s number one ranked player, Peter Muturi who tormented local players during the recent Botswana Open has found it tough in the AYG. He has failed to qualify for the quarter-finals as well.
The quarter-finalists in the men’s singles were Mahmoud Fathy of Egypt, Mayone Jose Neto of Angola, Amoako, Bienatiki, Olasunkanmi Ogini of Nigeria, Terrence Mathole of South Africa, Kanate and Algeria’s Yaniss Douifi.
The women who made it to the quarter0finals were Shouman, Jade Sasman of South Africa, Eva Adom Amankwaa of Ghana, Chowree, Nigeria’s Ajoke Ojomu, Han Dimbimiarilanitra from Madagascar, Travares and Sannah Lagsir from Algeria.