Botswana backs SA's table tennis bid
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday August 21, 2020 13:49
It is a three-horse race between Melbourne (Australia), Düsseldorf (Germany) and Durban (South Africa) to host the tournament after Kuwait dropped out after showing initial interest.
BTTA president, Kudzanani Motswagole said it was only natural to support the Durban’s bid as there are more benefits as compared to European and Australian competitors.
“It was a wise move for us to support our neighbours because, firstly, travel costs would be immensely reduced as compared to the two other countries. We can get to Durban by bus rather than catching a flight and that will save us a lot of money.
The other thing is that if South Africa wins, it will boost the standards of the game in the region.
“We expect representatives from neighbouring countries to get into the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the tournament. To have some of our people in the LOC will definitely help us grow administratively,” Motswagole said.
“We also looked at aspects such as sports tourism.
South Africa is just nearby so we could use the opportunity to lure participants to Botswana as a way of promoting our tourism sector.
It is an opportunity we are aware of and we will need to consult the government if Durban wins the bid. BTTA has a good bi-national relationship with South Africa, that on its own could see us bargaining more than we have anticipated in terms of both player and coach development going to the tournament, if they win the bid.”
He also said initially the BTTA had thought of entering the race but opted to go for regional tournaments, instead.
“It is our wish to host the international games one day.
But first, we have to look at what we have, if we can achieve the goal. At the moment, we can only put our name forward in regional games as part of a journey that will prepare us to bid for these international tournaments in the future,” Motswagole said.
The race for the third edition is by far the most exciting as for the first time three continents are running to host. South Africa stands a chance to bring the tournament to Africa for the first time. Meanwhile, the International Table Tennis Federation has moved this year’s World Team Table Tennis Championships to next year. The games are scheduled to run from February 21 to March 7, 2021 in Busan, Korea Republic.