Table Tennis miss olympics qualification

The four-member Kenya team failed in their bid to capture Olympic slots after being eliminated at group stages at the Aspire Ladies Hall in Doha.  

Team captain Anthony Mathenge candidly admitted that standards at global stage were way ahead of what Kenyans anticipated.

"We have interacated with players here who put in at least four hours of practice daily. What's more, they invest heavily in their counries and their general preparation process is way above our standards,"said Mathenge.

Kenyans lost in all their matches and as such will not be participating in the London Olympics.

“The temperatures here are really high and staying over long spells on air-conditioned rooms and the venue itself was also a challenge,” said Mathenge.

The Kenyan ladies Gloria Sigowo and Sejal Chandarqa played three matches apiece while Anthony Mahenghe and Derick Inyanje played four.

On Friday, Gloria Sigowo lost 4-0 Tikhomiroya Anna of Russia 4-0 and so was Sejal Chandarana who lost by a similar margin to Strbikova Renata of the Czech Republic.

Inyanje was defeated 4-0 by Ramirez Jose Miguel Guyana while skiqpper Mathenge lost 4-0 to Menge Gencay of Turkey.

Outside the temperature soars to sub 40s. But inside the air conditioning creates an ideal temperature and does not affect the flight of the ball or cause moans and groans from disenchanted players.

In fact, the facilities at the Aspire Zone in Qatar are as perfect as is possible for high class players to exercise their skills but the heat is on and it is being turned up.

At the conclusion of the second day of play, Friday , the group stage of the Men’s and women's Singles event had been completed.

Women’s Singles First Round A total of 16 players entered the arena for the opening round of the Women’s Singles event, the other 16 qualifiers all receiving opening round byes. Eight matches in total, only one was decided in straight games and one in five games; the rest were six or seven games tension packed duels.  

The team managed by Samson Ateka jets back on Sunday night. 

 Sportsnewsarena Correspondent

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