The 2023 African Games kicked off on Monday, with table tennis taking centre stage at the Accra International Conference Center.
The tournament saw over a hundred matches played in the men’s and women’s singles events.
Team Ghana fielded a team of nine athletes in the men’s division, consisting of Sam Bernard, Commey Emmanuel, Aklie Israel, and Quarcoo Ernest Mawutor in the men’s category, and Adom Amankwaa, Borquaye Bernice, Danso Celia, Joanita Borteye, and Kwabi Cynthia in the women’s category.
However, the team had a disappointing outing, with all members getting eliminated from the singles event before reaching the quarterfinals.
Aklie Israel was the first to bow out, losing to Nigeria’s Mathew Kuti in the opening round. Captain Sam Bernard also suffered a defeat in the second round against Egypt’s Shouman Mohammed.
Following his exit, Bernard shared his thoughts on the competition with 3sports. “The level of competitiveness is very high. Many African teams have recently returned from the World Championships in Korea, and facing them here, you can see that they are sharp. We’ll need to step up our game if we want to succeed in the other disciplines,” he said.
In the women’s division, Ghana had a promising start, with Danso Celia, Joanita Borteye, Eva Amankwaa, and Kwabi Cynthia winning their initial matches. Unfortunately, none of them managed to advance beyond the round of 16.
This year’s performance mirrors Ghana’s showing at the 2019 African Games in Morocco, where the country failed to secure any medals in table tennis.
By Emmanuel Andam | 3Sports | Ghana
