2025 GTTA MAJOR ACTIVITIES IN PERSPECTIVE

Описание: 2025 has been remarkable for GTTA considering the following ACHIEVEMENTS:
1. ITTF L3 Coaching Course (13 -20 Feb) in Tunisia: David Senyo Ahiaba qualifies as Ghana’s first Level 3 Coach. David was a successful participant from Ghana (West Africa).
2. ITTF Africa Cup, Tunis (25-27 Feb.) in Tunisia: Cynthia Kwabi, Joanita Borteye, and Israel Aklie took part.
3. WTT Youth Contender Helsingborg (6 - 9 June) in Sweden: Eric Ofori Addo officiated as an umpire.
4. West Africa Regional Championships, Lagos (16-19 July) in Nigeria: The Ghana Senior Women National Team had bronze.
5. ITTF Africa Hopes Week & Challenge (20-25 July) in Nigeria: Ghana secures 3 slots – regular 2 (one boy and one girl) plus a wild card slot – for the Africa Hopes Week. Extra exposure for youth talent. Israel Aklie had a bronze medal.
6. WTT Contender Lagos, (22-25 July) in Nigeria: First ever doubles semi-final berth in a World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender competition for Ghana secured by James Marfo & Emmanuel Commey. They later won a SWAG award in 2025.
7. AUT & ARE (26th July) in Nigeria: This development activity was funded by ITTF through the ITTF Development headed by Omar Refaat and supported by the ITTF URC. There were 10 participants (3 from Ghana, 6 from Nigeria, 1 from Ivory Coast) for the Advanced Umpire Training (AUT). There were 8 candidates for the Advanced Rules Examination (ARE) which was held in Lagos on 26th July 2025. David Senyo Ahiaba, Eric Ofori Addo, and Richmond Aguiar passed the ARE and eventually became BBP Umpires
8. ITTF Africa Youth Championships, Lagos (27 Jul– 3 Aug) in Nigeria: The boys U 15 team won bronze medal & the Aklie brothers won bronze (U 15 boys’ doubles event)
9. ITTF Africa Youth Cup, Lagos (4-5 August) in Nigeria: Ghana could not get to the medal zone
10. African Youth/School Games (27 - 31 July) in Algeria: Michael Agyapong Mensah gets a bronze medal in the male singles event. Ghana presented a player each for the male and female competitions. Michael Agyapong Mensah later won a SWAG award as the 2025 Male Discovery of the Year.
11. Two young umpire prospects, Carl Romeo Ansah and Millicent Ankude, undergo the ITTF Young Umpires Training Project in preparation for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. Carl Romeo Ansah and Millicent Ankude were selected for the Young Umpires' Project – Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The ITTF Sports Development and ITTF Education in close collaboration with the Umpires and Referees Committee (URC), launched the fourth edition of the Young Umpires’ Project (YUP). This project aims to identify, mentor and develop the next generation of elite national and international umpires offering a blend of online mentoring, workshops, assessment and on-site experience. In October 2026, the Youth Olympic Games will be held in Dakar, Senegal – the first Olympic event on African soil. The project will run over the period from August 2025 – October 2026.
12. ITTF African Championships (12-19 Oct.) in Tunisia: Ghana Senior Women National Team secures historic qualification for the London 2026 ITTF Centenary Championships. Ghana Qualified for the London 2026 ITTF World Team Championships.
13. ITTF World Hopes Week and Challenge (13-19 Oct.) in Sheffield, UK: Israel Aklie qualified but could not take part because his visa delayed
14. Training Tour (8-21 Nov.) in Sheffield, & Grantham, UK: As part of the ITTF high talent development programme, Israel Akile was invited to participate in an ITTF arranged training programme in Sheffield UK. Coach David Senyo Ahiaba, his coach/chaperone, participates in special sessions for coaches.
15. Mr. Mawuko Afadzinu was re-elected as the Chairman of the ITTF Sustainability Committee on November 15, 2025, for a four-year term.
16. UK GH Sports Day (25th Nov.) in Accra Sports Stadium: GTTA organized a demonstrative table tennis event for 8 players (4 boys, 4 girls) as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Ghana
17. ITTF Global Youth Training Camp (3-13 Dec.) in China: Leveraging the excellent performance of our cadet players at the 2024 Gaborone Hopes competition, Ghana, for the first time in many decades, secured priceless slots through the ITTF development programme, for two of Ghana’s brightest young talents, Israel Akile and Joanita Borteye, together with Cynthia Kwabi, their coach/chaperone, to train at the exclusive, super high performance programme for global best table tennis prospects at the Chengdu National Key Table Tennis Training School, China from December 4th to December 13th 2025
18. African Youth Games (ANOCA 10-16 Dec.) in Angola: Michael Yeboah and Emerald Bortey put up a strong performance at the Games, failing just short of the medal zone. Selected by the ATTF, Hilda Agbottah flies the Ghana flag as an umpire.

BY: DAVID SENYO AHIABA
(ITTF L3 Coach, ITTF Competition Manager in Progress, ITTF National
Referee, ITTF International Umpire)