Luanda - The National Table Tennis Team, both male and female category, begin Friday, in Luanda Province, the fight for the title of the Region 5 African Championship, which will be played at the Kilamba Pavilion, with the participation of eight countries.
To this end, the national team, made up of ten players, worked hard in the country and carried out a pre-competitive internship in Portugal, where they improved technical and tactical aspects.
The aim is to maintain or improve second place in the 2023 edition, held in Botswana, a race won by South Africa, the biggest reference in the sport in Africa.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) competition, which takes place for the first time in Angola, qualifies the top two classified teams for the African Championship next September, in Ethiopia.
However, among the eight pre-registered countries, in addition to the host country Angola with 10 players, which is in its 15th participation in the regional competition, the teams from South Africa (8), Botswana (8) and Namibia (8), made their official participation.
The competitors arrive in the country's capital this Thursday (27th).
Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Eswatini did not continue pre-registration until the end of the registration deadline (the 15th), even after a three-day moratorium (the 18th), however, their reinsertion will depend on the African organizing committee.
To pair up the competition, the technical meeting will take place Thursday, in one of the hotels in Luanda, with the presence of delegates from the participating teams.
Regarding organizational aspects, the stage has already been set, with a view to attracting the largest number of spectators and motivating new talents to practice the sport.
The competition is budgeted at 54 million Kwanzas, made available by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The programme of activities includes, for Friday (28), team games for men and women (10:00-12:30), parade of participating teams (15:00-15:30), speech by the governor of the province of Luanda, by the chairman of Region 5, by the chairman of the Angolan Federation (FATM), as well as the opening ceremony, by the Minister of Youth and Sports, then the continuation of team games (15:30pm-18:30pm).
The National Team, who arrived on Wednesday, after almost 30 days of preparation in Portugal, includes table tennis players Lisandro André, Domingos Manuel, Délcio Cassule, Roberto Fabiano and Luís Mudil, in the men's team.
In the women's category, players Ruth Tavares, Isabel Albino, Eugénia Simões, Kaelane de Sousa and Jerusa Borges will represent the country, guided by coach Manuel Pimenta, who also reiterated the commitment and determination to fulfill FATM's objectives, in win regional 5.
Angola was already the winner, in 2015, for the women's team, and in other editions it always came in second place, both male and female category, surpassed by South Africa.
VAB/MRA/jmc
