• Arguably the best player to have come out of Mwala School’s production line, Mutua’s determination and persistence as a budding player has seen him represent Kenya twice in the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup held in Tunis and Nairobi respectively.
• His trip to Germany signalled the beginning of a successful career. Soon, he would land an invite to Denmark to attend a three-month course.
Perhaps you are among the hundreds of boys and girls who play table tennis and your dream is to be ranked among the best players in the sport or maybe even to earn instant recognition in your region.
Well, one young ping-pong star, Brian Mutua, who honed his skills at the Mwala School table tennis academy achieved that dream when he rose to become a force to reckon with in the Eastern region.
Arguably the best player to have come out of Mwala School’s production line, Mutua’s determination and persistence as a budding player has seen him represent Kenya twice in the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup held in Tunis and Nairobi respectively.
Indeed, Mutua needs no introduction in the table tennis circles. Mutua began his journey in table tennis in 2012 when he turned out for Mwala School and unexpectedly propelled them to the national finals when he was still in Form Two.
Two years later, he was among the players nominated to attend a youth exchange program in Germany.
His trip to Germany signalled the beginning of a successful career. Soon, he would land an invite to Denmark to attend a three-month course. For this, he feels greatly indebted to his coaches, who took him from obscurity and moulded him into a star.
Mutua’s fine performance during the secondary school games catapulted him to the next level and enabled him to join City Stadium Table Tennis Club.
“I would like to recognise Ronson Nandwa and Chris Kyalo for never giving up on me and taking their time in training me,” says Mutua.
“I never thought I would play for the club in big tournaments considering there were very good players such as Josiah Wandera, Kennedy Kojal, Kennedy Kamwara and John Ojiambo.”
Rubbing shoulders with the best players in the industry sharpened his skills all the more.
“I was not a very good player after I finished high school but when I started training at City Stadium, my game started improving and this was made possible by our head coach, John Ojiambo.”
His exceptional ability and bravado during the KTTA League at St Teresa’s Church on July 1, 2017 left the participants totally amazed.
Aged only 19 then and fresh from school, Mutua caused a major stir when he ended Anthony Mathenge’s dominance on the national scene.
“I had my greatest achievement with City Club. I didn’t imagine I could win most of the games that I did in the league at that time and having some of my teammates winning important games felt really good,” he says.
Mutua’s stellar performance instantly earned him a maiden call-up to the national team to the 2017 Eastern Region Table Tennis Championship in Port Louis, Mauritius.
Today, Mutua is the only player of his generation to have graced two ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup championship (an equivalent of Africa Cup of Nations in football). He graced the 2018 event as a host player and qualified for the 2019 edition in Tunisia after winning the inaugural ITTF Africa Eastern Region Singles Cup in Kampala.
The qualifier in Kampala was staged on November 28 and 29 at the Pope Paul Memorial Centre, where he and Ethiopia’s Marta Meshesha emerged winners in the men’s and women’s singles events. Mutua relives the details of his tough battle.
“In Uganda, I played my group matches against Atwif from Uganda, Masoud from Tanzania and Aden from Ethiopia. I tried to remain composed throughout the tournament and took each game at a time,” he says.
“I also tried to minimise the errors that I had made during my previous competitions. I played against my compatriot Wandera in the semis and won 4-1. I beat Eddy Omongole 4-0 in the final to seal the Top 16 slot.”
Having already lost 1-3 to Kokou Dodgy of Togo in the opening game, Mutua came back rejuvenated to crash South African veteran Overmeyer Shane 3-2 in the second ITTF Top 16 preliminary game of the Africa 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers at the Stade Dr Rades in Tunis.
He beat Overmeyer 11-8 in the first set and lost 8-11 and 10-12 in the second and third. The Kenyan, however, recovered to win the last two sets 11-8.
His deep passion for the game has done nothing to hinder his academic pursuits. Mutua is currently a third-year student at JKUAT pursuing a Bachelors of Science degree in Physical Science.
“Joining the national team has been my greatest desire in the game. I grew up in Mlolongo with my parents and two brothers and proceeded to Mwala for my high school education. I joined Mwala School in 2011 and left in 2014 after completing Form Four,” he says.
Mutua, who currently turns out for Nairobi City Table Tennis Club, says that the challenges he experienced along the way didn’t distract him at all.
He remained focused amidst hardships, including lack of enough balls.
Prodded to explain what it felt to win the last match of the KTTA League against Mathenge, Mutua says: “My first encounter against Kenya’s best ranked player was a privilege. I thank my teammates for believing in me as this gave me courage to win matches despite having a wrist injury.”
“I would say that my secondary school games teacher, Mutungi is the one who made me the player I am today. He always told me I could become a better player each and every day. He is the best coach I’ve ever had and I am very thankful to him,” says Mutua.
“From 2012, we managed to reach the national secondary school games for three consecutive years till I left the school. During the 2013 edition of the games in Embu, I was recognised as the Most Valuable Player. It was a very good feeling.”
BIO DATA
Name: Brian Mutua
DOB: May 22, 1998
Current Team: City Table Tennis Club
Previous Team: Mwala School table tennis
Family: Five siblings, two brothers
Occupation: Student at JKUAT
First TT Event and Result: Participated in the 2012 national high school games and attained position four
Favourite All-time TT Player (s): Ma Long & Xu Xin.
Current Coach: John Ojiambo
Most Admired Sports Personality: Lionel Messi
2020 Goal: To Remain The Best In The Country
Career Highlights:
2013 National High School Games Most Valuable Player
2014 Youth Exchange Program In Germany
Representing Communications Authority in Kecoso Competitions In 2015 And 2016
Winning the National League With CTTC
KTTA National League Most Valuable Player 2016/2017
Winner of inaugural 2019 ITTF Africa Eastern Region Singles Cup in Kampala
Eastern Region doubles finalist in Mauritius, with Josiah Wandera