After a break of almost two years due to the Covid crisis, table tennis players in Pretoria were recently able to dust off their balls, rackets and tables to practice their sport again with great enthusiasm.

A full day of table tennis action at Groenkloof Bowling Club identified promising new talent on Youth Day.

It was a cold day out for 26 youngsters, mostly Gauteng North Table Tennis Board Schools league players, but they were eager to test themselves in a singles tournament, since the schools league is only a team competition.

Perhaps it was not surprising then to see two Affies boys in the finals, since the school dominated the A-, B- and C-divisions of the school’s league.

Teammates and doubles partners Ruan Joubert and Blake van der Walt squared off in the final, with Joubert definitely the favourite as the top seed. His current form was evident in his fairly comfortable victories in the quarter- and semi-finals.

Van der Walt was the vastly more experienced player, having represented Gauteng North at the National Championships in 2019, as well as participating in other major events such as the Free State and Gauteng North Opens, and The Arnold Classic.

So, the result was anything but a foregone conclusion.

The two players definitely produced the most spectacular match of the day, playing for the spectators and fighting for every point. But in the end form prevailed over experience, with Joubert taking the crown three games to one.

In a tough battle for bronze, Juané Scholtz (AHMP) marginally defeated Marco Reiners (Wonderboom) in a match that went all the way to a 3-2 scoreline.

There are no prizes for guessing which duo won the doubles event. Fresh from their singles final, the Affies boys ruled the table, but Marco Reiners and Jonathan Rossouw (both from Wonderboom) did not make it easy for them.

All four boys are regular opponents at Groenkloof’s social table tennis nights on Thursdays, and during the league it was the boys from Wonderboom that walked away with the win. It was the first time that the stakes were this high though, and the partnership of Ruan and Blake absorbed the pressure well enough to walk away with the crown.

In the third-place play-off it was another Affies duo of Edwin Diedericks and Stephan van der Walt that prevailed against Juané Scholtz (AHMP) and Tamara Salie (Girls High).

The event was a roaring success and will be expanded to a series of events aimed at juniors over the next few months. Any interested parties can contact Chris van der Walt on chris@challengers.co.za or follow Play Table Tennis on Facebook.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram