Langton Nyakwenda
10 October 2004
TABLE Tennis has been reeling in agony for the past decade but the sport is now showing signs of recovery and will, today, host the first-ever Zimbabwe Open tournament since the 1995 All Africa Games, StandardSport has learnt.
Prince Edward School hosts Zimbabwe's most popular table tennis tournament and to put the icing on the cake, two foreign players from Tanzania and Angola, will battle-it-out against the locals.
The Zimbabwe Table Tennis Federation, ZITTF, has not held a tournament of such magnitude since the country hosted the All Africa Games due to administrative problems which have bedeviled the sport ever since.
No elections for a substantive executive were held since then until December last year, when John Muringani was given the mandate to lift the sport out of its quagmire. And his immediate task was to resuscitate the Zimbabwe Open and, as he says, "the first mission has been accomplished".
"The Zim Open is on this Sunday (today) and quite a number of high-profile table tennis players have confirmed their participation. Players from Angola and Tanzania have also indicated they will be travelling for the tournament," Muringani said on Wednesday.
Yahya Mungilwa, who plays for the Tanzania national team, and Bruno, from Angola, are expected to slug-it-out with Zimbabwe's number one and two, Jonathan Mukwekwerere and Pardon Gopito, respectively.
Gopito is the current holder of the Manicaland Open title, which he won in Mutare in July.
Also set to pose a great challenge to the present hegemony include Brian Chamboko of Mashonaland, Takudzwa Mudonhi, also of Mashonaland and Prosper Jaya of Matabeleland.
StandardSport also understands the ZITTF has been invited to send a team for the African Table Tennis Championships to be held in Mauritius next month and will use the Zimbabwe Open, to select the Zimbabwean team.
The major event will be the men's doubles competition where Mukwekwerere will partner Gopito in their quest to maintain their status as Zimbabwe's best doubles team.
"We are going to use this tournament to choose the players who will represent Zimbabwe at the Mauritius Championships," said Muringani.
Five players will be selected to represent the country when the Africa Championships kick-off on November 17, in Port Louis.
The Zimbabwe Open has, however, not been spared the perennial financial constraints besetting Zimbabwean sport. Muringani told StandardSport, his organisation had experienced problems in securing sponsorship for the tournament and the prize money for winners, is still unclear.
"Sponsorship has been hard to come by since this is the first tournament in many years, but I believe the corporate world will gain confidence in us with time," he said.
StandardSport understands the winners in different categories could pocket between $150 000 and $200 000 each.
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