Tanzania ping pong player ranked eighth in EA
Alisa Bhojani poses after being awarded a trophy and a medal for being the best up and coming Junior table tennis player in the East African championships. She was also only a Tanzania player who qualified for the quarter final out of six players. PHOTO|CORRSPONDENT
What you need to know:
- Alisa (13) was only Tanzania ping pong player who qualified for the quarterfinal of the championships. Tanzania fielded six ping pong players in the first edition of the championships. namely Sultan Ali, Ishaka Juma and Ramadhan Msemo (boys); Alisa, Mwanajuma Khamis and Sara Alidina.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania up and coming table tennis player, Alisa Bhojani, has ranked eighth in the just concluded East African Regional Table Tennis Championships held in Kigali, Rwanda.
The championship, which took place at the Gymnasium Green Hills Academy, KG 270 Street, Nyarutarama in Kigali, featured teams from five countries – Uganda, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania and hosts Rwanda.
Alisa (13) was only Tanzania ping pong player who qualified for the quarterfinal of the championships. Tanzania fielded six ping pong players in the first edition of the championships. namely Sultan Ali, Ishaka Juma and Ramadhan Msemo (boys); Alisa, Mwanajuma Khamis and Sara Alidina.
Bhojani was named the tournament’s best up-and-coming player.
Alisa who was named the best up and coming Junior Tennis player of the tournament, said she has been inspired with the results and her target is to qualify for the biggest Table Tennis events in the world.
She said the event was very tough and it was not easy to reach the stage due to the fact that other countries featured experienced players. She pulled up her socks to reach the stage.
“I was competing in the event for the first time, to be one of the National team players was the biggest achievement to me, “said Alisa.
She said Tanzania can win top honors through the game if there will be support from sponsors.
The event saw Tanzania finishing third after collecting five points. Rwanda won boys’ category event after collecting 10 points, followed by Uganda with seven points while Kenya finished third with six points.
In girls’ category, hosts Rwanda also topped it with eight points. Uganda and Tanzania finished second and third with six and four points respectively.
Rwanda won the boys’ event after beating Uganda 3-2. The hosts also claimed top honour in the girls’ category with a 3-2 win over Uganda.
In singles, Tanzania boys did not go beyond the first round of the regional championship.
Tanzania beat Kenya 3-1 in the boys’ category before going down 3-0 to both Rwanda. The Tanzanian boys crashed to a defeat of similar margin against Uganda.
