High Noon At BTTA Champs
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday September 28, 2020 12:19
After a demanding 12 months, the BTTA schedule reaches the peak when players face each other for the finals.
The season was however disturbed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 and has seen a number of tournaments building up to the Grand Finale cancelled.
On Wednesday, the country’s elite players will battle over the table for the king and queen of ping-pong title.
There is a catch. Players stand a chance to walk away with a whooping P25, 000 in a Phoenix Assurance Botswana life changing moment. The award is an addition to the tournament prize money of P6, 000. That means the winner will walk away with P31, 000, a record prize money for individual sport locally.
Salivating on the sidelines is the country’s top ranked and defending champion, Tshenolo Mooketsi. He confessed that the incentives were an extra motivation to the players and expects tough competition.
“It is a very large amount. All the players will be targeting to win it. So I feel everyone is going to give it his or her best. This might be the toughest competition we have ever played in,” he enthused, noting how one should have to be at level best.
“Personally, there were tournament where I have had it easy, so I will not be making the mistake again in this one,” he chillingly warned his opponents.
Mooketsi however bemoaned limited preparation time ahead of the Grand Finale.
“We are in a rush. Our preparations are done in a rush. The training time is limited. I do not do much and I just work on condition so I could be ready. I won the tournament last year. I am coming into this one as a defending champion, so I am the man to beat. I am under pressure to retain my title but that encourages me to do better. It comes as an extra motivation,” he said.
Mooketsi faces stiff competition from the country’s number two, Boago Malobela. The two youngsters have made it to almost every tournament final in a build up to the Grand Finale.
Veterans, Thobo Matlhatsi and Bonolo Mabote lurk menacingly in the shadows waiting to pull a surprise in the two-day tournament.
In the women’s section, defending champion, Boitshwarelo Butale and Tshepiso Rebatenne will for the umpteenth time renew their hostilities in the battle to win the prize.
The two have dominated the table over the last few seasons and could remake last year’s final. The tournament is comparable to Alladin’s Cave, with a whopping P70,000 awaiting the winners courtesy of Phoenix Assurance Botswana.