Send players for tourneys, BTTA urged

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Friday May 3, 2013 00:00

The two, who recently came from the Africa Youth Championships in Tunisia, said they noted with disappointment that their Botswana counterparts were absent at the tournament last month.

Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) has always failed to send players to regional and international tournament. In fact, the association has no consistent junior national team and was not part of the competition held in Tunisia recently.

'I've played in a couple of international tournaments and each time I return from one I realise my game would have improved in some way. As a player, you need that international exposure to grow to another level,' said 16-year-old Mathole.

Mathole, who is based at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, believes such exposure would have the same impact on Botswana youngsters.'Their style of play becomes international as they continue taking part in these tournaments. But if I can compare with last year, I see the game is growing and am quite impressed with the standards,' he said.

He noted that the style most Botswana players have slightly different from theirs. At the weekend tournament, a similar strength the South Africans displayed was their spin that the Botswana players often failed to deal with.The visitors, however, found it easy to deal with the hosts' ordinary smash, which was, at times, inaccurate.Mathole played at the Selebi-Phikwe Open last year and won the Under-18 final before finishing runner up in the senior competition.

This time, the Attredgeville Table Tennis Club player won both competitions.His South African female compatriot, Jackson, also emerged victorious in both the Girls Under 18 and seniors' final. The two went on to win the mixed doubles final.The 18-year-old star, Vivian, also believes international exposure would make a huge difference in the local game.

'In South African we have seen so much progress in the game and based on that, I think Botswana should also consider introducing the sport in different schools and getting a national base for the players. That will also require good coaches with an international understanding of the game,' she said, adding that sending players out of the country is also a priceless investment