A team of 18 players selected for All African Games

Team Kenya Table Tennis has selected 18 athletes ahead of the 2024 All African Games (AAG) slated for Ghana from Friday, March 8 to Saturday, March 23.

The team was selected following successful senior trials at Kenyatta University and junior trials at Oshwal Sports Complex in Nairobi. According to Kenya Table Tennis Association (KTTA) Secretary General Fahd Daim, the provisional team will proceed to training in due course.

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"As a policy which Kenya Table Tennis Association has in place, one junior player in both categories of men and women will join the team.

“Our recent senior trials ranked a pool of top 16 players in both men's and women's categories. We settled for the top 8 to make the team.

"The closing day of the trials also confirmed the top 8 who make up the provisional team which will be presented to the Kenya National Sports Council to advise on numbers," Fahd said.

Lisa Wele of the University of Nairobi and Brian Mutua of JKUAT topped the national team senior trials. Abdul Anab (11) of Nairobi and Sifa Nafula (9) of Kitale were the two juniors who will join their senior counterparts in the men's and women's categories.

On his part, St. Joseph's Form Three rising star Emmanuel Wanjala made his debut in the trials and finished fourth in the national rankings.

Wanjala beat Mutua in the opening set of the top 8 round-robin matches but the Denmark-trained Kenya number one recovered well in time to pull through by a 3-1 score line.

Wanjala was the tournament's dark horse also beating eventual Kenya number two Peter Theuri in Saturday's Top 16 Round Robin pairings.

"I honestly didn't imagine I would make it the top 8 in my first national trials for something as big as this. But when the trials wore on, I gained the much-needed confidence and realised I could defeat some players,” Wanjala said.

Doreen Juma, now a teacher at her former school (St Monica Girls School Kitale) made a stunning comeback after a long layoff to rank second in women's qualifiers.

"I had taken a break due to personal reasons but I am happy to be back in the saddle. I am really happy to get the opportunity to join the provisional squad after a long lay off from the team, I just really want to be able to enjoy the experience and try not to get too nervous,” Juma said.

MEN

1. BRIAN MUTUA

2. PETER THEURI

3. JOSIAH WANDERA

4. EMMANUEL WANJALA

5. BONIFACE MUSIOKI

6. ALLAN SINGAR

7. EDWIN OTIENO

8. MANGONGO BASIL

9. ABDUL ANAB- JUNIOR

WOMEN

1. LISA WELE

2. DOREEN JUMA

3. NELLY MUTUMA

4. PAMELA WEKESA

5. LYDIA SETEY

6. MAZAM BECKY

7. KHUSHI MALDE

8. JOY NYOKABI

9. SIFA NAFULA- JUNIOR