Virtual courses for ZTTU officials

By Tatenda Kunaka
Zimbabwe Table Tennis Union (ZTTU) is conducting virtual refresher courses for coaches and umpires.
In an interview with Nhau Sport, ZTTU president, who is also the vice president of African Union Sports Council Region 5 Table Tennis Division, Noah Ferenando, said the aim is for officials to meet global standards.
“We have online courses that are lined up for the coaches and umpires and we hope to have a higher level course for our umpires to qualify for officiating in the world championship in 2023.”
Zimbabwe has 22 umpires that hold International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) qualifications and seven that have ITTF refereeing qualification.
The national team will start preparations for the upcoming Region 5 games if given the greenlight by the relevant authorities.
“On the cards now is the Region 5 championship slated for March in Botswana, it’s a qualifier to super 16 and an important event which has also been converted into a World Cup Qualifier.
“The games were moved from December last year to March 2021. We are working modalities to start training camps in February under the strict guidance from the governing body,” said Ferenando.
He added that they would love to qualify for the world cup in 2023 as it is being hosted by our neighbours South Africa.
Covid-19 affected table tennis like any other sport but managed to secure sponsorship.
“As any association Covid-19 did not spare us. We have various programmes that were lined up and they all failed to materialise due to Covid 19,” he said.
“We managed to get sponsors for our leagues so 2021 will be a good year.” he said. Nhau/Indaba