Monrovia – A five-man Liberia National Table Tennis Association (LNTTA) delegation is expected to depart Liberia for Accra, Ghana, to represent Liberia in the West African qualifier for the 2023 Durban, South Africa ITTF world cup. The five-man delegation is headed by the association’s president, G. Gbassay Golee, an official of the association, and three athletes, including Lasana Weh, Armah Kamara, and Boton Paye.
By A. Macaulay Sombai
Speaking to FrontPage Africa, LNTT president Golee disclosed that the Liberian delegation would depart the country on Sunday, April 23, 2023. Mr. Golee explained that if the three Liberian athletes perform well in the qualifier, they would represent Liberia at the ITTF September 2023 world cup qualifier in South Africa.
Said Mr. Golee: “The tournament is a normal and regular qualifier to prepare our three athletes to qualify from the Accra, Ghana qualifier in the West African zone, and from there, they will represent Liberia in the ITTF September 2023 world cup qualifier in South Africa. They end the qualifiers on a high note, and we hope they will perform to expectation against their opponents in the West African Qualifier.”
The LNTTA boss described the responses they are getting from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Ministry for financial assistance as very positive but is yet to receive a cent from the Sports Ministry. He said they are hoping to receive such funds in time because without that assistance, their trip to Ghana might not be possible.
According to the LNTTA president, if Liberia doesn’t participate in the qualifier, the country will be punished. Mr. Golee furthered that one of the main goals of his association is to take the game to youth that are having a passion for table tennis in communities within Monrovia, and they started in the Slipway community on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
He added that the Table Tennis Association would also be in the Lakpazeh community with one Table Tennis board because April 23, 2023, is world Table Tennis Day, and Liberians have a passion for the game with a theme “Taking Tennis to the People.”
“We started the dissemination of the importance of the game of table Tennis program in the Slipway community with a tennis board to help the youth because the only way we can actually have a viable national team is to take tennis from the grassroots level with the young people and graduate them from one stage to another level so that we can be able to have a viable national team that would be able to score more victory against her opponents locally and internationally.”
He called on parents of youth that are having a passion for tennis always to help encourage them to focus their minds on the game.