WINDHOEK – The Namibian Table Tennis Association (NTTA) has dispatch a six-man delegation to Zambia earlier this week to partake in the Zone VI Games, which get underway today in the Zambian capital Lusaka.
The five-member squad consists of Rudi Saunderson, Wayne Green, Reinhardt Stanley, Darren Strauss and Heiko Fleidl (captain) with Dr. Yuri Vasin as team manager. The competition was initially scheduled for December last year, but organizational hiccups in Zambia led to its inevitable postponement. Nevertheless, the team that finished 4th place at the last Zone VI Games in South Africa left Namibia in high spirits. “It will be tough, but we are looking forward to the challenge,” said Namibian skipper Fleidl, adding that another 4th place is the minimal objective. In total, six countries in the SADC region will compete in the three-day tournament. According to Fleidl, the South African team are the hot favourites and well placed ahead of all other participating nations in the world ranking. “South Africa currently occupies 80th place in the world ranking. Although that might not sound extremely good, one has to understand that there are more than 200 countries that play table tennis worldwide,” explained Fleidl, who in the same breath picked Angola as possible title contenders. Team manger Vasin said Namibia is currently ranked 118th. The tourney will be divided into three categories, which requires each nation to nominate three players that go head-to-head against all other countries in a round-robin team event, while the players will also compete in the singles and pairs divisions.
By Staff Reporter