Tennis team sets sights on the C’wealth Games

Dar es Salaam. After a lengthy training tour of China, the national table tennis team players are bubbling with confidence ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

As evidenced in the team’s first test against Uganda early this week, they displayed quality game that evidences their Chinese tour to be very fruitful.

The players, who returned home from China recently, are now fine-tuning in the city ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Australia in April.

Team coach Ramadhan Abdallah told The Citizen yesterday that his players showed remarkable improvement in their warm-up match against the Ugandan team.

He said even those who lost their matches played tactically well.

According to Abdallah, plans are now underway for his team to take on their Kenyan counterparts before reporting at camp for further training under the auspices Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC).

In their friendly against Uganda at Kisutu Secondary School Hall in Dar es Salaam on Monday, Tanzanian Mwamvuta Abdul beat Namukutalisa Lita of Uganda 3-2 in a closely contested match.

Mwamvita won the first set by 11-8. The Ugandan came out a more aggressive player in the second set to win 11-6.

She (Lita) went on to win the third set 11-9 before Mwamvita leveling in the fourth set with 11-7 win. The Tanzanian girls went on to win the fifth set 11-5.

Tanzania’s Nambozo Halima defeated Alisa Bhojani of Uganda by three straight sets in the second match at the same venue.

Neema Emanuel beat Ugandan Nambozo by 3-2 sets in the third game at the same venue.

In the men’s discipline, Jonathani Ssenyong from Uganda defeated Tanzania’s Masoud Mtalaso by 3-2 sets in an exciting match.

The day also saw Ugandan Nyaika Ramala silence his compatriot Amon Amos by three straight sets.