Egypt’s Enppi and Petrojet are the 2023 Africa Club Champions following brilliant displays at Nairobi’s Moi International Sports Centre indoor gymnasium.
Enppi-comprising Nadeem Ahmed, Ghallab Ali, Hussein Mo Amen and Saleh Mohamed- successfully defended the continental title in Kenya with a convincing 3-0 win over Uganda’s Kibuli Table Tennis Club in the men’s final.
Petrojet, on the other hand, dealt Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) a 3-0 blow in the ladies singles final to lay their hands on the coveted title previously held by compatriots Al-Ahly.
Nairobi City men’s side coached by retired internationals Anthony Mathenge and Derick Inyanje was the best placed Kenyan club in fourth overall place. Nairobi lads spearheaded by Kevin Mwangi and Mike Otieno lost 3-0 to CBE in the semifinal.
Reached for comment, Coach Mathenge who is a longstanding Kenya number 1, lauded his boys for their resilience and gusto.
“We played our hearts out, but at the end of it all, there is a winner and loser. You win some and lose some. But I believe the Egyptians are beatable if only we can practice a lot more,” Mathenge remarked.
Enppi’s star player Ghallab was all smiles: “I am very happy we have now won three Africa Club Championships and now we are at the top in Africa. We still have the league finals in Egypt to deal with, so the sky is the limit.”
Enppi’s Coach Ayman Zakareya, on his part, quipped: “I want to thank Allah for the win. We just prepared normally and arrived in Nairobi two days early just to adapt. We were very focused from the day we landed in Nairobi-such a great feeling I must admit.”
The three-day tounament preceded the ITTF-Africa Cup which serves off on Thursday through to Saturday.
