Ghana’s Olympic table tennis dream dashed at African qualifiers

Ghana’s national table tennis team, the Black Loopers, have seen their dream of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics dashed after failing to progress beyond the early stages of the ITTF Africa Olympic qualification tournament in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Black Loopers, comprising Israel Aklie and Emmanuel Commey in the men’s singles and Cynthia Kwabi and teenage prodigy Joanita Borteye in the women’s, were aiming for one of the six (three men’s and three women’s) spots available for African athletes at the upcoming Games.

Aklie and Commey were unable to progress from their respective group stages, failing to register a single victory. Aklie fell short against Congo’s Saheed Idowu (3-0) before a narrow 3-2 defeat to Ugandan Samuel Ankunda ended his qualification hopes. Commey suffered similar disappointment, losing to Oba Kizito Oba of Côte d’Ivoire (3-0) and Ylane Batix of Cameroon (3-1).

Despite the men’s early exits, there were positives for Ghana in the women’s competition. 13-year-old Borteye, a rising star in Ghanaian table tennis, reached the knockout stages.

Although she initially stumbled against Sarah Hanffou of Cameroon (3-0), a walkover victory (3-0) against Kenyan Nasimuyu Lisa secured her place in the Round of 16. However, her Olympic dream was halted by Uganda’s Judith Nangonzi, who defeated the youngster 4-1.

Veteran Kwabi also began her campaign with a defeat, losing 3-1 to Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi. Bouncing back with a convincing 3-0 win over Rwanda’s Hervine Tumukunde, she booked her place in the Round of 16.

Kwabi’s challenge ended there, however, as Ruqayyah Kinoo of Mauritius proved too strong, prevailing 4-1 and extinguishing Ghana’s hopes of a table tennis representative at the Paris Olympics.

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