Singles series deliver unforeseen results
Table tennis
The Arysteq Asset Management and Simonis Storm schools table tennis tournament was held at Wanderers Club in Pionierspark on Saturday.The contested age groups were under 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19, with no restrictions in the number of entrants.
The number of overall participants were less than expected due to the school holidays. It however did not impact on the quality of table tennis that was seen. The standard continues to rise and a number of young players are showing potential to join the national squad in the near future.
The results were dominated by members of the national team, however, some surprise upsets were seen among these national players. The most notable upsets in the junior men category were caused by Agape Chicalu in the under 15 age group when he first eliminated Kamrouz Ghayouri in the quarter final and then also ended Caden Bosman’s gold medal hopes in the semi-final. Agape’s winning streak was ended by top-seed Kevin Zhang in the final.
The rivalry among the under 11 boys continued between Wilhelm Twyman and Terence Kandandara. Terence, who had the better of Wilhelm in their previous two meetings, had to bow the knee this time and Wilhelm walked away with the gold.
Both Kamrouz and Caden however recovered from the above upsets to win the under 13 and under 19 age groups respectively. Kevin also took gold in the under 17 age group when he overcame Kamrouz in a tough final.
Girls
The junior girls division also produced unforeseen results. Top-seeded Lian Gebauer had a surprise exit from the under 15 age group at the hands of Suverasaneje Ikorua in the quarter-final.
Suverasaneje, who is not a national team member, lost to Cadence Farmer in the semi-final. Justina Namupolo pulled out all stops to overcome fellow-national team member, Cadence, in the final – her first time to defeat Cadence in the singles series during 2024.
The under 13 age group was won by top-seeded Cadence, when she defeated Suve Suverasaneje in the final. Lian recovered from her earlier loss to win both the under 17 and under 19 age groups by defeating Cadence Farmer in both finals.