FNB table tennis attracts talented players

TABLE tennis is alive and well in Namibia, judging by the large turnout of players and spectators at the annual FNB Inter-schools Team Championships over the past weekend.

The tournament was held in the JTL Beukes Primary School hall at Rehoboth, where 12 schools from Windhoek, Rehoboth and Mariental participated in the event, which has been sponsored by First National Bank (FNB) for the past 14 years. There was a definite air of excitement in the venue and the chairperson of the Namibia Table Tennis Association, Siggi Goebel, could not contain her excitement.”The huge number of players, as well as spectators who turned up at the tournament augurs well for the future of table tennis.It is also interesting to note that the hub of junior table tennis is situated in Rehoboth, where most of the upcoming junior players live.This is very encouraging and the Association will continue to promote the sport in other areas as well,” she said.A large number of girls participated in the championships.The final match, played between Dr Lemmer High School A team and the Rehoboth Table Tennis Club, was a closely contested one which went to the wire and stood at 2-2 with one more game to play.This last game was won by Dr Lemmer, which clinched the Inter-schools title for them.Dr Lemmer B team finished third ahead of M&K Gertze High School.The final standings were as follows: 1.Dr Lemmer High School A 2.Reho Table Tennis Club 3.Dr Lemmer B 4.M&K Gertze High School 5.Rehoboth High School A 6.Windhoek 7.Mariental High School A 8.M&K Gertze High School B 9.Rehoboth High School B 10.JTL Beukes Primary School A 11.JTL Beukes Primary School B 12.Mariental High School B A coastal inter-schools championship is scheduled for Swakopmund in October this year.There was a definite air of excitement in the venue and the chairperson of the Namibia Table Tennis Association, Siggi Goebel, could not contain her excitement.”The huge number of players, as well as spectators who turned up at the tournament augurs well for the future of table tennis.It is also interesting to note that the hub of junior table tennis is situated in Rehoboth, where most of the upcoming junior players live.This is very encouraging and the Association will continue to promote the sport in other areas as well,” she said.A large number of girls participated in the championships.The final match, played between Dr Lemmer High School A team and the Rehoboth Table Tennis Club, was a closely contested one which went to the wire and stood at 2-2 with one more game to play.This last game was won by Dr Lemmer, which clinched the Inter-schools title for them.Dr Lemmer B team finished third ahead of M&K Gertze High School.The final standings were as follows: 1.Dr Lemmer High School A 2.Reho Table Tennis Club 3.Dr Lemmer B 4.M&K Gertze High School 5.Rehoboth High School A 6.Windhoek 7.Mariental High School A 8.M&K Gertze High School B 9.Rehoboth High School B 10.JTL Beukes Primary School A 11.JTL Beukes Primary School B 12.Mariental High School B A coastal inter-schools championship is scheduled for Swakopmund in October this year.