The women’s number one ranked table tennis player over the weekend defended her Phoenix Assurance Botswana Super League title.
It was a rather sweeter victory as she managed to better her previous Super League performance with an unbeaten streak in this campaign.
Rebatenne had lost just once in the 2022 edition. But the victories bring along a heavy load of pressure as Rebatenne talks match day pressure. Speaking to Sport Monitor, she said she has achieved her target to finish the Super League campaign unbeaten. “Every game came with a lot of pressure. At the back of my mind I would be thinking if this will be the match that I lose. I won but it was not easy, I am thinking that I may be the target.
I have won everything this year and that makes me the player to beat. I always fear for the day that I am going to lose. It will be the day that I will be making breaking news so that alone comes with its own pressure,” Rebatenne said.
Her unbeaten streak stretches from the 2022 season as she swept every title since. The 36-year-old is happy to get the Super League out of the way as she sets her eyes on ITTF Southern Africa Region World Championship qualifiers to be held in two weeks in Gaborone. “This league was meant to help us get some game time and prepare for the World Championship qualifiers.
But in some way it disturbed the training progress because we played every Wednesday and Saturday. So it gave us very little time to rest and prepare. Since the league is over, I think we can focus on the Region V,” Rebatenne said. On the contrary, the men’s section in the Super League was, however, not a smooth sail as Bakang Maloka had to dig deep in the 14-rounds league to retain his title.
Maloka had gotten off to a poor start losing two games in the opening five matches. He, however, recovered some bit of form and went on a nine game win streak to win the Super League.
“The competition was tougher this year. I lost two games. The players looked more hungrier and everyone wanted to win it. I did not start well and I had to increase my training periods. That’s why I got back to my best and managed to win the league,” Maloka said. The Botswana Table Tennis Association will this weekend host the second of the Lexica Savings Account tournament before the ITTF Southern Africa Region World Championship qualifiers to be held at the Botho University from June 30 to July 2, 2023.
