by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-Africa Press Officer
Notably earlier this year at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, he was a semi-finalist in Men’s Singles Class 6-10; agonisingly he was beaten in the bronze medal match in a full five games contest by Welshman, Josh Stacey,
He is of no doubt that South Africa is closing the gap on the continents powerhouse nations.
“I am really satisfied with our performance in this competition because we matched the top teams in all our matches. It was not like we were overrun. We just need to maintain the momentum in terms of training and attending competitions within and outside Africa; we need to attend more tournaments and gain more exposure, I think we can make the medal podium at the next African Games.” Theo Cogill
Most significantly, in the Men’s Doubles event on Friday 7th September, the point was endorsed. Theo Cogill and Shane Overmeyer beat Algeria’s Larbi Bouriah and Sami Kherouf, the no.4 seeds (11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 11-6), before experiencing a quarter-final defeat at the hands of the Ivory Coast’s Kanate Ali and Oba Kizito (11-7, 10-12, 13-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7).
“It is always hard playing in Africa because most of the players have a good fighting spirit and they are born with that natural ability. They might not be up there in terms of technique but the never-say-die attitude of any average African sometimes makes it hard to predict the outcome of any match. Generally I must say that the standard has really gone up in Africa particularly with Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna taking down some of the world’s best.” Theo Cogill
Theo Cogill is expected to fly South Africa’s flag at 2018 World Para Championships to be staged next month in Slovenia. He will be attending on a two week training tour at the National Table Tennis Training Centre in Doha, Qatar later this month.
2018 ITTF African Championships: Newsletter – Monday 3rd September
2018 ITTF African Championships: Newsletter – Tuesday 4th September
2018 ITTF African Championships: Newsletter – Wednesday 5th September
2018 ITTF African Championships: Newsletter – Friday 7th September
2018 ITTF African Championships: Newsletter – Saturday 8th September
