Rwanda table tennis federation’s opportunity to develop the game in the country

The big sporting story in town the past week has been about football legends from across the world coming to Rwanda later this year to play in a veterans’ tournament. According to the Rwanda Development Board, the Veterans World Clubs Championship will bring together 150 football legends from all regions of the world. From September 1 to 10, they will play matches and take part in five economic forums on peace, education, health, business and tourism. Expectations are high all around, especially for the fans. Seeing the legends (heroes or idols for some) in the flesh and watching them do their thing on the field before their eyes cannot come soon enough. The stars may have grown older and plumper, and slower. The joints might creak a little. Their once silky skills may have lost some of the shine and smoothness. But surely, some of the lustre remains and they must still dazzle and entertain. Such big stars coming to Rwanda is no longer a novelty. Every year many of them come to Kinigi in the north of the country for Kwita Izina, the baby gorilla naming ceremony. Celebrities in different fields: the arts and entertainment, sports and politics, business and philanthropy, and conservation, and many more. And the world comes with them to Rwanda. All year round, other big names come for business and conferences on matters of world import. But this will be different. These are legends in one sport: football. They will not be here for one day, do what has brought them, have their pictures taken, and be gone the next day. They will be here for much longer, play football in the refurbished Amahoro Stadium, blessing it in a footballing sense. The legends story eclipsed another Rwandan sports news, mercifully for Rwandan basketball fans. It kept out of the limelight news of the exit of Rwanda’s team from this year’s Basketball Africa League (BAL) finals to be played at the BK Arena starting this week. APR Basketball Club crashed out of the tournament in Dakar, Senegal. They had a bright start but crumbled in the return fixtures. This past week, another world sporting event was held in Rwanda, but it, too, remained in the shadow of the legends. Kigali played host to two International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) tournaments. The first, ITTF Africa Cup 2024 tourney from May 12 to 14. The second, the African Olympic Qualification Tournament from May 16 to 18. The continent’s top table tennis players, 26 men and 24 women from 15 countries, converged in Kigali for a chance to secure a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Only six, three women and three men were able to book the place in Paris. None of them Rwandan. That the competition did not make major headlines in Rwanda is perhaps not surprising. Apart from other stories getting prominence, there are reasons for this. Global sporting events taking place here have become such a regular, even ordinary, event, that they are expected to happen, almost as a matter of course. Table tennis is not high on the list of popular games in Rwanda. In the just ended tournament, few noticed that Rwandans did not go far in the competition. Not many think it is a big enough sport. Obviously, they have not seen how it is in Asia, especially in China. However, despite the less than enthusiastic media coverage, the two ITTF tournaments that have just been held in Kigali provide the Rwanda table tennis federation (RTTF) with the opportunity to develop and popularise the sport in the country. The task would not be difficult as table tennis does not require much to develop. First, it does not demand massive investment, at least in terms of equipment. All you need is a table (not any table, of course), a net and a couple of bats and a few small white balls. You do not need a lot of space either. A normal size room will do. All of which make table tennis affordable and an ideal sport for schools, youth centres or clubs. Second, anyone can play it, not just the more physically endowed who tend to dominate most other games. In fact, some of those usually dismissed as weaklings are likely to find a home here. They do not have to fight bullies, appease them or earn their favour in some way to be allowed to play. The latter prefer the macho or mass appeal games that give them greater visibility and power that they crave. In table tennis, all that is required are sharp reflexes, nimble and lightning speed movements and thinking. The only other condition, which is the same for other sports, is that for players to be really good, they must start early, at a young age. Which means at school. Third, there are models to emulate. The East Asian countries, especially China, have made table tennis their own. No one remembers that it is a British invention. It should not be difficult for others to do the same. Besides, there is already much admiration for the progress that the Asians have made. Everyone wants to copy their example, although they never actually do it. You want to talk about transformation from least developed to advanced economies in a single generation, the Asian Tigers are the model. For technological advances, Japan, the Tigers, and more recently India and China, that is where to look. Singapore is the model everyone would like to copy. But admiration apparently stops there. We do not hear much about emulating them in other magical things they do. You should see them play table tennis. It looks like real magic. Maybe we should copy this and might even beat them at it one day. Another typically Asian game, or one which they have adopted and excel at, is badminton. It is another investment and space friendly game. I have not seen it played much here. Perhaps that will also change when the next continental or global badminton tournament is played in Kigali. The beauty of some of these lesser known games is that they are not competitive sports only. They can also be played for recreational purposes. Even old fogies like me can play them without the fear of breaking a limb or running hopelessly out of breath and being left behind or on the ground. With all these good reasons, the Rwanda Table Tennis Federation should seize the moment to develop and spread the game across the country. Schools are a good starting point. They have already earned some credit for bringing the ITTF competitions to Kigali. They will get full accolades when the game takes root and Rwandans compete at the highest level.

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Rwanda table tennis federation’s opportunity to develop the game in the country