It was as if the gods had gone crazy at the D G Hathramani Sports hall at the Accra sports stadium on Saturday 30th April 2016, when 9th placed new entrants Tesano Spinners club whitewashed 4th placed Ghana Navy in the National Table Tennis League.

Parading a youthful team made up of National under 18 star players, victory was to come, but not on a silver platter. Rigorous and dedicated training coupled with astute coaching made the difference.

In the first match, Solomon Acquah of Tesano Spinners, who placed 3rd in the national under 18 championship last year walloped experienced Acquah Aikins by 3 games to 1, with scores reading 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-9. Had it not been complacency in their first match where Solomon lost guard to flamboyant receiving of Aikins serves, he would have been home and dry with a straight victory.

In the second game, arguably the best player of the Spinners team for the day, Augustine Baidoo of Mfantsipim School, made mincemeat of Allotey Jacob by thrashing him 3-0 with scores reading 11-8, 11-8 and 11-7.

Augustine, who won gold with team Ghana in the West African under 13 tournament in 2012 in Ivory Coast, and placed 4th in the national under 18 tournament last year, mesmerized Jacob Allotey with his top spins and backhand loops.

The supporters cheered on vociferously as they yearned for more action as the game was an exciting one to watch.  Interestingly, Augustine’s twin sister, Augustina, is the national female under 18 champion, and 8th best overall female player in Ghana currently.

 Realizing that they were 2 games down, the Naval team and in a bid to avoid further onslaught, quickly re-strategized and brought on their most trusted arsenal in the person of Courage Neneve to partner Allotey Jacob in the doubles encounter.

They faced arguably the best doubles team in the league thus far in the pair of Godwin Aseku and Solomon Acquah of Tesano Spinners. Godwin ranks number 16 in the under 18 national category.

They game started with both teams exhibiting agility on the board and winning points with frequent rallying on the table. The first few points were tight and shared evenly as each team kept a cool head and played with a water-tight defense.

In the end, the more agile and youthful team from the Tesano enclave, managed by Mr. Charles Tachie- Menson, walloped the more experienced Navy team 3-0 with scores reading 11-8, 11-7 and 11-7. The Navy team was astonished!

The frown and despair on the faces of the naval team summed up their disappointment.

The 5th week of matches will take place on Saturday 7th May 2016 at the D G Hathramani Sports Hall at the Accra Sports stadium at 9am with Tesano Spinners battling it out with Medina Stars and Koforidua White Loopers.

The game to watch will be the match between Tesano Spinners and White Loopers, as Loopers have in their camp the National under 18 champion Emmanuel Ofori and 2nd ranked under 18 player Kojo Godwin as their top seeds.

Spinners also have in their camp Solomon Acquah and Augustine Baidoo who are currently the nation’s 3rd and 4th best under 18 players. This match will be mouth-watering and a clash fit for the gods.

According to captain of the Tesano Spinners, Nathaniel Kwesi Somuah, his team is leaving no stone unturned as they prepare for this “battle royale” on Saturday.

PHOTO CREDIT: BREAKTHROUGH PICTURES

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