Ghana’s Black Loopers shock hosts, Congo Brazzaville

Congo Brazzaville, the third seeds whose players have spent one year preparing in China, suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Ghana’s Male Team, the Black Loopers.

Derek Abrefa Ghana’s top seed started off well in the opening match of the contest by beating Suraju Saka, crowned African champion in 2008 in Kinshasa (11-7, 12-10, 4-11, 11-7) Emmanuel Commey in the vital concluding fifth match of the engagement also beat Suraju Saka (11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 11-6). However Hu Bin remained unbeaten for Congo Brazzaville, he accounted for Emmanuel Commey (11-4, 11-4, 11-6) and Derek Abrefa (11-7, 11-5, 11-7) but that was to be the sum total of success for the host nation outfit.

The one further success for Ghana was posted by Felix Lartey; in the third match of the fixture, he overcame Saheed Idowu (11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 11-8).

Egypt, the top seeds, selecting from the squad of Omar Assar, El-Sayed Lashin, Mohamed El-Beiali, Ahmed Ali Saleh and Khalid Assar duly finished in first place in their group in the Men’s Team event at the 11th African Games in Congo Brazzaville on Friday 11th September.

It was the same for Nigeria, the second seeds, as it was for Algeria, the fourth seeds. Nigeria chose from the quintet of Quadri Aruna, Segun Toriola, Seun Ajetunmobi, Ojo Onaolapo and Bode Abiodun; whilst for Algeria the overall outfit was formed by Idir Khourta, Larbi Bouriah, Sami Kherouf, Mohar Boudjadja and Alissa Belkadi.

First Time
“Being my first time at the Games, I have never played against Saka Suraju before but I knew he was African Champion in 2008; my coach gave me a lot of confidence going into the match”, said Emmanuel Commey, when speaking to Olalekan Okusan, the Press Officer for the African Table Tennis Federation.

“Everything worked for me but when the match was at two-one, I was a bit nervous”, added Emmanuel Commey. “My coach told me to finish the match and this really boosted me to end; this victory has indeed increased our confidence, we are closer to a medal in the Men’s Team event.”

Determination
Emmanuel Commey was the hero of the hour but it was Derek Abrefa who gave Ghana the perfect start by beating Suraja Saka.
“I was really determined before the match and I ensured I did not make any mistakes”, said Derek Abrefa. “We are very happy as a team with this victory and we hope it will inspire us in subsequent matches.”

Same Response
A determined Derek Abrefa, it was the same attitude from Felix Lartey.

“When I knew I would be playing against Saheed Idowu, I was not afraid to play against him even though he had defeated me twice in our previous meetings”, said Felix Lartey. “I ensured I watched video clips and I prepared very well, this victory is sweet especially beating the host team in front of their fans.”

First Place for Top Four
An upset of note in the first stage of the Men’s Team event but not in the counterpart Women’s Team competition where the top four seeds all emerged successful.

It was first place for Egypt (Dina Meshref, Nadeen El-Dawlatly, Farah Abdel-Aziz, Youssra Helmy), as it was for Nigeria (Offiong Edem, Olufunke Oshonaike, Cecilia Akpan, Rashid Ogundele), Congo Brazzaville (Li Yuheng, Han Xing, Onyinyechi Nwachukwu) and Algeria (Sannah Lagsir, Islem Laid, Linda Loghraibi, Katia Kessaci).

Main Draw
The quarter-finals Ghana prgressed from the Men’s quarter finals but lost to the Nigeria semi-finals played on Sunday 12th September 2015. Speaking to Mr. Mawuko Afadzinu, he said he was impressed at the output of the team and was confident that the team will win the Bronze medal. Also having been part of the top 4 Men’s table tennis teams in Africa and qualified for the other future competitions the team will work hard to win glories in those games.

He wished the team well in the rest of the other games in the competition.

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