Table tennis club summoned over unpaid dues
Kabelo Boranabi | Thursday August 10, 2017 15:45
New Horizon arranged a BTTA ranking tournament a fortnight ago and has since failed to reward the winners of the two-day tournament.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport yesterday, BTTA competitions secretary, Tshepo Modisane said the executive committee has called the club to a meeting scheduled for Saturday after clubs forwarded a written complaint to the association.
“They (players) are not paid yet. The clubs have written to us forwarding their grievances. We will meet with the representatives from New Horizon on Saturday. We will communicate after the meeting and as of now, there is nothing more to say,” Modisane said.
For his part, New Horizon chairperson, Marang Ramahobo admitted that the club is yet to pay the winners.
He however, said after the tournament ended late on Sunday (July 30) as the organisers together with the players, arranged that the award ceremony would be done on Monday, July 31. But after several attempts last week to hold the ceremony, the club sought to have the award ceremony at a date to be confirmed after they meet the organisers.
“I was not impressed by the turn up (of players) on the day we set. We (New Horizon) suggested that we should give the tournament a proper award ceremony.
I am meeting the owners of one lodge that was one of the sponsors tonight (yesterday evening) and we will communicate the dates of the prize giving ceremony after,” Ramahobo said. The BTTA on 2014 took a decision to give clubs the responsibility to host the ranking tournament as the mother body shifted focus to development and national teams activities. The New Horizon championships was sponsored by Brode Geo Designs, BC&LM Gas and Tyres House for a combined P7,366.40 while Cosy Palms guesthouse sponsored the prizes for the winners.
On the table, the tournament produced shocks as 20-year-old Bakang Maloka won the men’s singles toppling former BTTA top-ranked Bonolo Mabote. Tshepiso Rebatenne won the women’s singles while Smash Maniacs and True Identity won the men and women team events respectively.
Meanwhile, Ramahobo refuted reports that the New Horizon club was on the brink of collapse, as there were reports that a number of executive members at the club have tendered their resignations.
“We have only lost one player, Moathusi Bakwadi, a very good player who has a bright future. But we have not received any resignations.
We are focusing on a tournament we are hosting in February. As a committee, we are looking to promote our club and our events,” Ramahobo said.