By MICHAEL MIYOBA
THE Zambia Table Tennis Association (ZTTA) has named an 18-member provisional squad consisting of nine males and nine females players scheduled to enter camp for the 2021 Namibia Open scheduled for next month.
And ZTTA president Mutale Ng’andu challenged the selected players to work hard and put Zambia on the world map, by emerging first in international table tennis competitions.
Ng’andu also hailed the National Sports Council of Zambia for sponsoring the 2021 National Ranking Table Tennis Tournament at National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) in Lusaka.
National Sports Council had invested K30, 000 in the table tennis championship which saw the 18 players being selected for national team duty.
And ZTTA Technical Director Boyd Kabinda confirmed that the 18 players will go into none-residential camp where five players will be picked from each category.
“Zambia Table Tennis Association has picked a provisional national table tennis team selected over the – weekend at the NASDEC tournament which attracted over 100 players.
“The final team will have five female players and five male players. These are the players the technical team will concentrate on,” Kabinda said
“The objective of selecting these players is to focus on future competitions such as Region 5 tournament to be held next year and the Botswana Open to be held this year in December 2021.”
Winner of the 2021 National Ranking Table Tennis Tournament in the male category, Emmanuel Munga of Green Buffaloes in Lusaka will be joined by Isaiah Banda, Dismas Mushimwa, Felix Kasongo, Moses Bwalya all from Garden, while Choolwe Hamalambo, Kennedy Katungu, Charles Banda and Weston Tumba from NASDEC, Presbyterian and Green Buffaloes respectively.
In the women’s category Mubanga Kunda of NASDEC will compete for the final top five spot with team mate Latifa Nalavwe, Janet Mwelwa and Ruth Mutailoni all from Green Buffaloes while Christine Mulumba and Grace Kapula join the provisional team from Garden Lusaka
Witness Nyorongo, Annita Chibombe and Justina Nyorongo were picked from Presbyterian Lusaka, Green Buffaloes and NASDEC.
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