Team Kenya Table Tennis provisional team of 18 athletes has been confirmed well in time for the 2024 All African Games (AAG) slated for Ghana next month.
The team was selected following successful National Trials featuring young and experienced male and female players as well as junior boys and girls.
A team of 9 ladies and 9 men was confirmed following the conclusion of the senior trials at Kenyatta University and junior trials at Oshwal Sports Complex in Nairobi.
According to Kenya table tennis Association (KTTA) Secretary General Fahd Daim, the provisional team will proceed to training in due course.
“As is the requirement of the Sports Ministry, each team must to travel with at least one junior player in both categories of men and women. Our recent senior trials ranked a pool of top 16 players in both men’s and women categories. We settled for the the top 8 to make the team.”
“The closing day of the trials also confirmed the top 8 who make up the provisional team which will be presented to the Sports Ministry to advise on numbers,” expounded Fahd.
Abdul Anab (11)of Nairobi and Sifa Nafula (9) of Kitale were the two juniors who will join their senior counterparts in the men’s and women’s categories.
Lisa Wele of University of Nairobi and Brian Mutua of JKUAT topped the national team senior trials at KU
Notable absentee in the ladies team was Mary Kinuthia who failed to make it into the last top 8 round robin
St Joseph’s Form Three rising star Emmanuel Wanjala made his debut in the trials and finished fourth in the national rankings.
Wanjala beat Mutua in the opening set of the top 8 round robin matches but the Denmark trained Kenya number one recovered well in time to pull through by a 3-1 scoreline.
Wanjala was the tournament’s dark horse also beating eventual Kenya number two Peter Theuri in Saturday’s Top 16 Round Robin pairings.
“I knew nothing about table tennis by the time I wrote my KCPE exams but started playing the game when I joined Form One at St Joseph,” said Wanjala who schooled at Brookland Preparatory School in Nairobi’s sprawling Kayole slum.
Doreen Juma, now a teacher at her former school (St Monica Girls School Kitale) made a stunning comeback after a long layoff to rank second in women’s qualifiers.
“I had taken a break due to personal reasons but I am happy to be back in the saddle” Doreen said.
Wanjala on his part remarked: “I honestly didn’t imagine I would make it the top 8 in my first national trials for something as big as this.”
“But when the trials wore on, I gained the much needed confidence and realised I could defeat some players.”
Doreen added: “I am really happy to get the opportunity to join the provisional squad after a long lay off from the team, I just really want to be able to enjoy the experience and try not to get too nervous.”
In one of the Top 8 best of five matches, Doreen beat Nelly Mutuma 3-2 (11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 3-11 and 11-6). Lisa beat Joy Nyokabi 3-1 (9-11, 11-3, 11-5 and 13-11.
Wanjala defeated Boniface Musyoki 3-1 (11-8, 11-4, 5- 11, 11-7).
In the decisive men’s match Brian Mutua decimated Peter Theuri 3-0 (11-8, 11-4 and 11-8).
Mutua returned from Hirtshals (a town and seaport on the coast of Skagerrak in Denmark) in January where he attached to B75 Club on a two-and-half month high performance stint courtesy of Olympic Solidarity.
Theuri and Wandera have previously attended high performance training in France.
“Being an Olympic year, I would love to up my ante and see if I stand any chance to represent my country in the Paris Olympics,” Mutua said.
In Ghana’s AAG, Badminton, Cycling, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Triathlon, and Wrestling will all serve as qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games which will be hosted by Paris.
The list of the 18 qualifiers are as follows:-
MEN
1. BRIAN MUTUA
2. PETER THEURI
3. JOSIAH WANDERA
4. EMMANUEL WANJALA
5. BONIFACE MUSIOKI
6. ALLAN SINGAR
7. EDWIN OTIENO
8. MANGONGO BASIL
9. ABDUL ANAB- JUNIOR (11 YEARS)
WOMEN
1. LISA WELE
2. DOREEN JUMA
3. NELLY MUTUMA
4. PAMELA WEKESA
5. LYDIA SETEY
6. MAZAM BECKY
7. KHUSHI MALDE
8. JOY NYOKABI
9. SIFA NAFULA- JUNIOR (9 YEARS)
