By MICHAEL MIYOBA
ZAMBIA Table Tennis Association (ZTTA) vice president Wisdom Kaunda says there is need for early preps if Zambia is to qualify for the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships to be held in South Africa.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has announced that Durban will become the first South African city to stage the World Table Tennis Championships after South Africa beat 2017 host Dusseldorf 90-39 in a vote by members of the ITTF.
“We are continuing to see benefits from the forthcoming changes to the format of the World Championships Finals, which will be introduced from next year onwards, leading to more countries bidding from different regions of the world,” said ITTF Deputy President Khalil Al-Mohannadi in a news release.
“This also reflects the ever-increasing international appeal of table tennis, which is extremely pleasing to see as we continue to work hard to make the sport more global in the future.”
The news cheered ZTTA who are seeking to break the jinx of failing to qualify for the global championship which features the best players across the globe.
Kaunda said 2023 is not very far hence the need for early preps for Zambian table tennis players to make a historical appearance at the World Cup.
“This is the first time Africa will host the World Cup and if we qualify we will be able to complete at these games. 2023 is not far so the preparations must start now,” Kaunda said.
Zambia has never qualified to the World Cup and right now we have a lot of young players. Actually our national team players are mostly under 21 years giving them enough time to blossom and try their best,” he said.
Kaunda said the ssociation is working on organising the annual Chinese Ambassadors table tennis tournament after international competitions were put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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