Yaoundé Ready to Host ITTF-Africa Senior Cup and African Club Championships

Yaoundé the capital of Cameroon will be the home for the forthcoming 2015 ITTF-Africa Senior Cup; the tournament will be followed immediately by the African Club Championships.
The ITTF-Africa Senior Cup will be staged from Tuesday 21st to Thursday 23rd July, the African Club Championships from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th July.

Welcoming visitors to the country will be Alfred Bagueka Assobo, President of the Cameroon Table Tennis Federation; he believes that all participants will enjoy their stay in the West African country.

Experienced Organisers
“We organised the Senior African Championships in November 2010; that event enabled us to gain a certain experience”, said Alfred Bagueka Assobo when speaking to Olalekan Okusan, the Media Officer for the African Table Tennis Federation.

“Since then, we’ve been organising the annual Sonara International Tournament and our experience in that domain has been strengthened”, continued Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “So concerning the next African Cup, we’re almost ready; we just need to make sure all the details are taken into consideration.”

Venue
Preparation is now in the latter stages.

“The venue will be the multi-purpose sport complex, a very modern gymnasium, located down town Yaoundé which was used in 2010 for the African Senior Championships”, continued Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “For the tournament, we are expecting 70 players from almost 15 countries.”

Tough Competition
Undoubtedly, a table tennis enthusiast, Alfred Bagueka Assobo is well aware of the commitments and schedules of those who will be in Cameroon.

“The players have had the opportunity since the beginning of the year to attend big events like the ITTF-Africa Senior Championships in Cairo last January, the GAC Group ITTF World Tour Lagos Open in March and the Qoros World Championships in Suzhou in China”, he stressed. “They’re also preparing for the All-Africa Games planned for next September in Brazzaville; we can imagine that given that context, all of them will fight very hard to have good results which will help them to go to Brazzaville with more confidence.”

Also Alfred Bagueka Assobo is aware there is one more reason to anticipate a hard found event.

“We must not forget that the winners will represent Africa at the World Cups”, he explained. “So the competition will be a very keenly-contested one.”

Leading Nations
A realist, the Cameroon Table Tennis Federation Presidents believes Nigeria, Egypt and Congo Brazzaville are favourites to dominate the tournament.

“Egypt, Nigeria and Congo Brazzaville are the principal countries; for the women, strong contenders are Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Nadeen El-Dawlatly, Congo Brazzaville’s Han Xing, Nigeria’s Funke Oshonaike and Edem Offiong as well as home girl, Sarah Hanffou”, said Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “In the men’s category, we have top players like Egypt’s Omar Assar and El-Sayed Lashin, Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna and Segun Toriola as well as Congo Brazzaville’s Saka Suraju.”

Nigeria and Egypt

Strong candidates for honours and there are two countries in particular, who are continually in the frame for titles, a fact acknowledged by Alfred Bagueka Assobo.

“Egypt and Nigeria are countries who have a very long tradition in table tennis; just an example, the Cameroon Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1974, whereas the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation was created in the early 1950s” he explained. “They know that in sports, a medal is a medal, be it in athletics, boxing, table tennis or football; they have a large number of qualified coaches and the players have more international exposure.”

Sarah Hanffou 
Strong adversaries from abroad, however, in Sarah Hanffou, the hosts have a major challenger for honours.

“Sarah Hanffou won the African Championships in 2010, she represented Cameroon at the London 2012 Olympic Games”, stressed Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “We are proud of her; she is a role model for the younger players and a source of inspiration and motivation for them; of course, given her experience, she is our best hope.”

National Detection Programme
Undoubtedly, the Paris based lawyer is at the vanguard of table tennis in Cameroon, she sets the example.

“Concerning the efforts we are putting in place to produce other good players, a national detection programme of very young talented players was launched recently by the government for eight sports and table tennis was selected among the eight sports”, explained Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “Every year, we organise many competitions, among them are National Team Championships for veterans, seniors, juniors and even cadets.”

Also there is an influence from the world’s super power of table tennis.

Promotion
“The Chinese Ambassador Cup has been organised annually since 2008, table tennis is one the sports included in the national sports festival called “Dixiades”; also it appears in the National University Games, in the National Secondary School Games and in the National Primary School Games”, added Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “With the assistance of Ping Sang Frontières, a France-based non-Governmental Organisation founded by Sarah Hanffou, we are taking table tennis to primary schools by donating tables, rackets and balls.”

In addition Alfred Bagueka Assobo recognised the support of the International Table Tennis Federation.

Courses
“The International Table Tennis Federation has also been very supportive, Cameroon has benefited from it education and training programmes; since 2011, we have been sending some of older players to China annually to attend coaching courses”, added Alfred Bagueka Assobo. “As the host federation of the African Cup, we will receive from the International Table Tennis Federation and the African Table Tennis Federation equipment and materials like tables, nets, scorers, balls, surrounds and floors; an ITTF Training Camp will be organised in Cameroon as well.”

Support and well prepared; African eyes focus on Cameroon.

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