Table tennis rivalry on the spotlight

Table Tennis might not be the most popular sports locally, however the growing rivalry between Boago Malobela and Bokang Maloka has set all eyes on the upcoming independence tournament as many want to see the two players compete. The biggest tournaments in the Botswana Table Tennis Association ( BTTA) calendar , the Table Tennis Independence Grand Final is expected to be held between September 30th to October 1st and the matches are expected to be exciting but not as much as the one between Malobela and Maloka. In an interview this week, Malobela who is the defending champion heaped praises on his competitor. “Bokang Maloka is a good player; he has been on form this season and despite that, I respect all the competitors in the tournament because you never know which player you will face,” he said. “I have been working on my mental strength so that I can focus on each and every game that I will be playing, it’s going to be a tough tournament.” A number one against number two battle is always thrilling to watch thus a battle between Maloka who ranks first and Malobela who is second on the BTTA rankings is what everyone will want to see. “Right now it seems he has no competitor who gives him a tough time, I don’t have enough training time as compared to him; he has recently competed in a tournament in South Africa, I am second on the rankings after him so it’s a big challenge.” Malobela stressed that big events like this one always come with major upsets so he is focused on being mentally prepared for the daunting task of finding his brilliance in the tournament. “I have to be mentally prepared, I have analyzed his game.” For his part, Maloka said the competition and teething rivalry is somehow good for the growth of the sport. “Rivalry is good for competition, the competition becomes tough when there are top players present and always keeping each other on their toes, it becomes attractive.” Maloka who last won the Top 16 tournament in July and having recently won bronze in the South Africa Regional Championships held in Bloemfontein, South Africa a week ago, the player seems to be in good shape for the upcoming tournament. “These players change their strategies in every tournament; the next tournament they’re hard to beat the next tournament they’re easy, I have trained with a left hander called Tirelo Tshipinare, so I know what to expect and what I have to do is change my mindset when playing against Boago Malobela.” Moreover, Malobela, a very consistent left handed player, who has not dropped outside the top 2 ranks in the past three years, takes his confidence into the tournament while the on form right hander, Maloka is set to continue his current dominance. BTTA rankings will be used to seed players in the tournament; the tournament is sponsored by Phoenix Assurance Group Botswana. The Life Changing Awards is sponsored at P50 000.00 ( P25 000.00 per gender). Champions will walk away with P6000.00 each, Silver Medalists will pocket P3000.00, while Bronze Medalists will only get P1500.00