Team Ghana got off to a rocky start in the team events on Wednesday as the men’s team lost three straight matches to Madagascar in Group 5 and the Women’s team tasted the might of Egypt in Group 1.
The men needed a big performance against Sudan in the second game to qualify, and they did just that, defeating the North African side in three straight sets thanks to big performances from Emmanuel Commey and captain Bernard Sam.
The women’s team also responded in kind, beating Uganda in a five-game thriller with Celia Danso delivering the killer blow.
“We have beautiful dreams. We have excellent material. The prospects are here. We just have to do what it takes to create champions that will give our country a lot of joy and a lot of pride,” Ghana Table Tennis Federation President Mawuko Afadzinu remarked after the achievement.
Without Juanita winning her game, we’re going to lose 3-0. She won a game, it became 2-1 and that provided the platform for the senior players to mount a comeback,” he added.
There have been questions as to whether Ghana has what it takes to win a medal in this event. Emmanuel Commey, a member of the team, believes he can do it.
“Ghana is going to win a gold medal for table tennis because now we are going out all out. We are the host nation, we have fans, we have supporters that we think is going to help us,” he said.
The recent turn of events is a big boost for team Ghana as they performed poorly in the singles event earlier in the week where none failed to make it past the round of 16.
The Black Loopers have tough tasks ahead in the team event but are hopeful of weaving magic.
