Rebatenne bags record P31,000 after win
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday October 2, 2020 16:38
It is table tennis’ largest purse with the sponsors saying the payout was meant to motivate and raise the level of the sport. During the tournament held at BUAN Hall, the Nhabe Table Tennis Club player beat defending champion, Boitshwarelo Butale 4-0 in a tense final to walk away with the P25,000 Phoenix Assurance life changing moment award.
Rebatenne managed to reach the 30 points bar set by the organisers, to walk away with the richest prize. In addition, she received the P6,000 prize money, achieving a historic feat of the highest individual cash prize in the sport.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport, Rebatenne said she was happy to regain the title she lost in 2019. She lauded her opponents for a higher standard of competition.
“It was a difficult competition to play, looking at incentives set for the players. Every player gave their all. I would say P25,000 came as extra motivation for all the players. I am very happy to have walked away as the winner,” Rebatenne said.
She, however, had difficulties in preparing for the tournament after a suspected case of COVID-19 was recorded at the BNYC premises, which serve as a training area for table tennis players.
“I did not have a smooth preparation. Our training area was closed after a case of COVID-19 was recorded at BNYC. So I had to come up with alternatives. But it all came down to hard work. I have realised that if I train hard I can achieve anything. There were times where I did not perform at my best because of limited training, but for this one I tried by all means to have best preparation,” she said.
In the men’s section, no player managed to reach the 30 points bar, and therefore the grand prize eluded them. It was a disappointing tournament for defending champion and country’s top ranked, Tshenolo Mooketsi, who crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Boago ‘King Nadal’ Malobela, ranked second, won the tournament beating Thobo Matlhatsi in the final.
‘Nadal’ walked away with P6,000. The Grand Finale brought the curtain down on the BTTA series that has been heavily affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19.