Rebatenne has dominated the local scene in the women’s table tennis class for nearly a decade now, winning every competition on offer.
The veteran was once again in a mean mood over the weekend as she became the first player to lift the Lefika Savings Tournament title. The competition is latest addition to the Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) season.
The tournament was played under the newly penned BTTA and First Capital Bank’s P50,000 partnership. First Capital Bank through its product, the Lefika Savings Account, has won the naming rights of two BTTA tournaments worth P25,000 each.
The weekend’s edition was the 2023 BTTA season opener and paddlers returned to the table for the first time since November 2022. Rebatenne on Saturday met Game Kebodiwang in the women’s final. A rivalry is setting up between the pair with yet another tournament final match. Kebodiwang had pipped Rebatenne for the first time in 2021 to a tournament title.
They last met in a final match in the 2022 Independence Finale and Rebatenne came out tops. Over the weekend, the veteran dominated her younger rival on the table as she won the tie 3-0 to walk away with a P3,000 pay cheque. Kebodiwang walked home worth P2,000 for the runners prize while semi finalists, Olerato Ramagapu and Constance Kuswani pocketed P1,000 each. “It is the first tournament of the year and usually it comes with its own kind of pressure. The last year rankings have also been dissolved and we are starting this season on the same level. So this makes one want to maintain their spot and that comes along with a lot pressure.
I lost one final against Game and won one, so today I said I am going to be fast on her and that I think worked very well for me,” Rebatenne said following her triumph. She further said the tournament win would give her a boost for the season. Rebatenne also said the Lefika Savings Tournament has given her an eye opener on the readiness for the season.
Unlike the women’s, the men’s section was a heavily contested affair. It was an unpredictable setting from the last 32 round to the final match. A number of elite paddlers including two former number ones, Tshenolo Mooketsi and Thobo Matlhatsi fell off in the quarterfinals round. Bakang Maloka was tied against Kola Modisaotsile in the final match.
Maloka emerged the winner in the heavily contested tie as he beat his opponent, 3-1 to take home a P3,000 pay cheque. Modisaotsile took home P2,000 while semifinalists, Boago Malobela and William Olyn were rewarded with P1,000 each for their efforts.
