Table tennis coach calls for exposure

The BDF Table Tennis Club player/coach, assisted by Boykie Selerio, will oversee the training of both the men's and women’s teams. Their concerted effort [Matlhatsi and Selerio] saw them win two medals in the men's and women’s singles at the Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) regional tournament held in Gaborone last year. This time around, they are hoping for better fortunes at the AUSC Region 5 games. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, Matlhatsi bemoaned the national team’s lack of participation in continental and international competitions. In 2016, women’s top-ranked player, Tshepiso Rebatenne competed in a continental tournament and that was at the ITTF Africa Senior Championships held in Morocco.

Five years later, junior players, Sean Dekop and Game Kebodiwang were sent to the African Senior Championships held in Yaoundé, Cameroon. “I think our main problem is probably funding because we can only afford to participate in regional tournaments. We do not take our players to these international tournaments on a regular basis.