06 Dec 2025

Three table tennis whiz kids, Reneilwe Lekorwe, Carol David and Boitlamo Nkele left for Dammam, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for the World Table Tennis Youth Contender Series 2025, which starts from December 7 to10.

The tournament consists of under-11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 categories with mixed doubles in the under-15 and 19 categories for both boys and girls.

The three players had a very good year as they have displayed mouthwatering performances on various table tennis competitions both locally and internationally.

Recently, they were issued a sponsorship by a South African veteran, Luke Abrahams, the founder and director of Just Table Tennis after dazzling at the Jwaneng Open Table Tennis Tournament.

In an interview, Botswana Table Tennis Association public relations officer, Tshegofatso Malepa, said the team under the mentorship of Brown Sebokolodi and Emmah Lelatisitswe, were picked through national team selection, which was performance based. 

She said Lekorwe also was offered a sponsorship by ITTF Africa after finishing 11^th in last year’s Africa Youth Championships.

Lekorwe’s sponsorship allowed him to use the US$800 in any competition of his choice, said Malepa.

Furthermore, she said Lekorwe and Nkele were also offered a sponsorship by Botswana National Olympic Committee christened Olympic Solidarity, which was still active.

The duo, Malepa explained were also offered another sponsor by Stag Global that provided them with attires and all gaming accessories for any competition that they were part of adding that for these achievements they booked their tickets to represent the country at Dammam.

As for David, Malepa said she was offered a sponsorship by Botswana National Sport Commission to make the three players for Team Botswana.

“All these three players are national team players. You can recall that they were in a national team that went to Namibia therefore they were still within the means of benefiting from these programmes whilst in the national team,” Malepa.

Meanwhile, another duo of national team players, Briannah Mogaladi and Thato Kgongwan will head to Angola for the Africa Youth Championships.

The team, coached by Godirileone Bagwasi, will start their competition from December 10 until 20. ENDS