National  table tennis champions, Ghana Immigration Service produced a scintillating performance to overpower  fellow title contenders Ghana Revenue Authority and in-form Ghana Fire Service 3-2 respectively with only two (2) players.

The league, which is being played at the D.G. Hathiramani Hall of the Accra Stadium, is being played under the Olympic format which requires three (3) players to win a match comfortably.

National champions Immigration, being represented by Ghana’s table tennis gem, Derek Abrefa who is ranked 13th in Africa and assisted by Emmanuel Commey who is also ranked 27th in Africa, produced a rare feat when they showed class by defeating their opponents in what is still being labeled the only crème de la crème performance since table tennis started in Ghana.

Ghana Immigration service had lost two of their top players in the persons of Felix Lartey and Emmanuel Asante to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) world ranking professional tournament in Nigeria, and so they had to do with the pair of Derek Abrefa and Emmanuel Commey who recently won Bronze medals for Ghana at the All African Games in Brazzaville Congo in 2015.

With their opponents full of energy and ready to pick all the points at stake due to their numerical disadvantage, they drew strength and experience from the fact that they are still the best players in Ghana.

With all the pressure on Derek Abrefa to win against all odds, he proved his mettle when he gave a perfect start by defeating Ernest Mawutor by 3-2. This match was a cracker. The stadium was set agog as there were beautiful exchanges on the board with Derek proving that indeed he is a master class of a player.

In the second match which was a must win game, Emmanuel Commey continued with a 3-1 win over Thomas Addey.

Using the Olympic system, the scores were tied up at 2-2 since Immigration had lost two (2) matches on technical grounds; the doubles encounter and one (1) singles match with the absence of their third player.

Abrefa concluded the game with a 3-1 win in the reverse singles against Charles Nortey. Ghana Fire Service was shocked to have missed the chance to win. All the Extinguishers of Fire Service needed was just to win one game and victory would have been theirs.

In the match of day with Ghana Revenue Authority, who were bent on defeating Immigration Service to leapfrog them to the summit of the league table, they relied on the experience of National team player Bernard Joe Sam who was the only hope for them to win the match.

In the first game, Emmanuel Commey defeated Isaac Davies of GRA by 3-2 in a keenly contested and beautiful game. Both players who are left-handed players, played a splendid game to the applause of all spectators. 

Bernard Joe Sam was expected to end the game but he was silenced by the most unpredictable player of our time Derek Abrefa by 3-1.  With this game also tied at 2-2 based on technicalities, Abrefa walloped Eric Ofori Addo 3-0 to win all the points for the current national champions Ghana Immigration Service.

In an Interview with Derek Abrefa after the game, he stated that he and his colleagues were preparing to embark on a training tour to China and Germany to better their careers as professional table tennis players. They aim at becoming African champions in a few years, make Ghana a table tennis stronghold in Africa and also represent Ghana at future Olympic Games.

They are appealing to all corporate bodies, private companies, NGOs and individuals with love for the game of table tennis to come to their aid as they prepare for their professional training tour.

 -

Follow Joy Sports on Twitter: @JoySportsGH. Our hashtag is #JoySports