- Simba French
- 14 hrs ago
- 0
Several champions were crowned at the 40th J.C Sweeting Table Tennis Tournament that wrapped up on Saturday at L.W. Young Junior High School. It was the final table tennis tournament of the year for The Bahamas Table Tennis Academy.
Champions were crowned in the under-11, under-13, under-15, under-18, open and senior divisions.
competitive tournament as the competition year ended.
“The players came with one goal in mind and that was to win. My favorite division was under-15 because that’s the category where most of the kids are and it was exciting to watch,” Khalfani said.https://de95694526f12e3b198920a8c9f569f9.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
The under-18 division needed four sets to determine a winner as Mosiah Bain and Samuel Corbin battled. In the end, it was Bain who prevailed, winning 11-9, 8-11, 11-7 and 11-9. Tyreck Pratt won the bronze medal in that division.
Ben Melkman took care of Hastings Johnson in straight sets to lift the open division title. He won 11-2 and 11-2. Finishing third in that category was Africa Smith.
The under-15 division had some stiff competition between Chris Rahming and Max Melkman in the gold medal game. In the end, it was Rahming who came out on top in two sets when he won 11-9 and 11-9. The bronze went to Elliot Jean-Baptiste.
Lior Melkman won the title in the under-11 category, taking down Kobe Saunders in straight sets, 11-6, 11-1 and 11-5. Keyonna Bain walked away with the bronze medal in that division.
Keith Saunders was the senior champion, prevailing over Ephraim Morley. The set scores were 11-7 and 20-18. Clem Foster won the bronze medal in that division.
Khalfani said he was impressed with the level of competition, especially from the junior players.
“The number of participants was great and the skill level has improved tremendously. They have moved to the next level. We have always seen a steady increase in participants,” Khalfani stated.
Khalfani thanked entities like Fidelity Bank, the Bahamas Table Tennis Federation, the Progress of Sports Foundation and many others which sacrificed their time and resources to ensure the sport grows.
Next year, Khalfani is hoping to see bigger tournaments and events as well as the establishment of a league. He is also hoping to have a junior national team established.