Zimbabwe will for the first time in history take part in the World Table Tennis Championships set for Dortmund, Germany starting on Sunday.
The country qualified for the world premier event as one of the invited guests.
Three players, Brian Chamboko, Tinashe Chikaka and Takudzwa Mudonhi, who was part of the Zimbabwe team at the All-Africa Games in Mozambique last year, will take part in the historic event.
Zimbabwe Table Tennis Union president John Muringani confirmed the trip.
“The team is leaving for Germany tomorrow (today). The tournament will run from the 25th to the 1st of April. This is our first time to participate in this event so we can’t put these guys under pressure by demanding results. What we are looking to gain from this competition is experience, capacity building and exposure. However, the players have been training hard for it. We did not break since our participation at the All-Africa Games because we knew we would go for these championships. We are ready for the battle,” said Muringani yesterday.
Zimbabwe will only know of their opponents today with the draw expected to be conducted in Dortmund this afternoon.
“This is a learning curve for us so we are ready to face any opponent. We are also mindful that the results contribute to our world rankings so we will to do our best, and try and win where it’s possible,” added Muringani.
Elso Ribeiro will lead the delegation to Germany while Muringani will be the team manager.
