Black Loopers
Ghana’s senior national table tennis team, the Black Loopers have qualified to the quarterfinals of the men’s team event at the ongoing 2021 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa championships in Yaoundé, Cameroon after beating Kenya 3-1 in their second match of the day.
Captain of the team, Derek Abrefa won two matches; a 3-0 win against Kennedy Kojal and another 3-0 against Kenyan’s number one Brian Mutua to help the team to progress whilst Emmanuel Asante’s 3-2 win against Josiah Wandera augmented that of Abrefa, after Emmanuel Ofori had lost his encounter against Brian Mutua.
Having arrived a day earlier, with no time to acclimatize to the environment and tables, the team put up a spirited effort but lost their first encounter by 0-3 to Egypt.
Ghana would be playing against tough opponents, Algeria for a spot in the semi-finals later today.
Ghana’s team is made up of Derek Abrefa, Emmanuel Asante, Emmanuel Ofori and Emmanuel Commey.
The female team is represented by Cynthia Kwabi, and coached by Anthony Owusu Ansah.
The President of the Ghana Table Tennis Association, Mawuko Afadzinu, is the leader of the delegation in Cameroon.
This is the first time Ghana is playing in the African championships since 2008.
The tournament which started on Wednesday, September 1, ends on September, 7.