WINDHOEK – Both the Republic of Namibia and the People’s Republic of China celebrate their 25-year-old diplomatic relations this year,
The Namibian Table Tennis Association (NTTA) will play host to the first ever Namibia-China Friendship Cup on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Namibia.
The competition consists of regional play-offs, which commenced last weekend with the first qualification round while the finals are set to take place on April 18 in Windhoek.
The Chinese Embassy has made available N$121 120 for this milestone in Namibia’s friendship with China.
During Namibia’s recent 25th independence anniversary celebrations, the People’s Republic of China’s presidential special envoy was among the guests.
They had a good meeting with Namibia’s new president Dr Hage Geingob and also held talks with the new vice-president and some cabinet ministers. “
“This shows the special relationship our two countries have with one another. Table tennis marks one of our many celebrations we share with Namibia on this very special occasion,” a delighted Chinese Ambassador Xin Shunkang said during the official launch of the tourney in Windhoek last week.
Ambassador Xin, a keen table tennis player himself, applauded the NTTA for its hard work in setting up such a prestigious event.
“A lot of work goes into hosting such a tourney and we are very happy that it can be carried out,” he stated while also underlining that the Chinese Embassy wishes to strengthen its relationship with the NTTA in future.
The event will be contested in the senior men, junior men and junior ladies divisions. Participating regions are hosts Khomas, Erongo and Hardap and for both junior categories each school of each region is allowed to enter a maximum of four boys and four girls for the play-offs.
The scholars will then play against each other in a round-robin format to determine the top eight boys and girls that will advance to the final elimination round in Windhoek, with the winners to receive staggering prize monies.
In the senior division, each club of only the Erongo and Khomas regions play for two final places. The duo will meet the top two Chinese players in Namibia in the finals. All finals will take place on April 18 in Windhoek.
Ambassador Xin closed off the launching ceremony by stating that participating players will also receive a special, limited-edition commemorative envelope as a souvenir that was designed and produced for the 25th anniversary commemoration of China-Namibia diplomatic relations.