19 May 2014

Peter Muturi, a 16-year-old-boy from Kenya was marvelous to watch on Sunday, May 18, as he dismantled his opponents during Botswana Open Table Tennis Tournament.

The tournament was held at Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC) Hall in Gaborone. It was his first meeting with Batswana players and he managed to beat all the highest ranked players to lay down a marker for the tournament.

He began his quest for victory in the semi- finals of the under-18 boys’ singles category where he edged past Larona Morapedi to book a place in the final against Tlotlo Kgosimore.

Kgosimore who failed to win the same category in the last tournament was looking forward to redeem himself. However, it was not to be for the young man from Moshupa as Muturi hit hard on him with a 3-0 flawless victory.

Muturi’s mission was not yet complete as he went ahead to meet Botswana senior national team player Kola Modisathedi in the finals of the senior men singles category.

He kept dictating the terms in his second final and easily crushed Modisathedi with another 3-0 victory to remain undefeated. The young man who is ranked number one in Kenya will be a force to reckon with in the upcoming African Youth games.

“The competition was stiff but I am glad I managed to win all of my games” he said during a post tournament interview. In the women singles category, Matshidiso Osi who knocked out Boitshwarelo Butale in the semi-finals met Botswana number 2 Tshepiso Rebatenne in a tough final.

Osi who is ranked tenth in Botswana wanted to show the young woman that she was retired but not tired. She won the first set but Rebatenne who was fresh from the tournament in Japan came back to win two consecutive sets.

Osi gained confidence and had a boost of morale from her supporters. Her fighting spirit paid off when she got back on level terms and went on to record an overall victory of 3-2.

The under-18 singles category saw Oratile Kedisaletse against Rapelang Rasetshwane in the final. Rasetshwane defeated Gotlhe Maruping in the semi-finals while Kedisaletse edged past Gorata Ramagapu in the same stage.

It was rather an easy encounter for Rasetshwane as she swiftly beat her opponent 3-0 to win the category. The tournament organized Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) welcomed players from different clubs as well as players of different nationalities.

The tournament was a curtain raiser and was also used as a preparatory tournament. However, the team which will be taking part in the upcoming Youth games was not part of the tournament.

“This tournament was used as a test event, to check Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA)’s readiness to stage a competition of Gaborone 2014’s magnitude.

It also welcomed the Senior National Team from Japan and redirects it to Glasgow 2014” said the Publicity Secretary of BTTA Lelentle Mokhupuki during an interview. Ends