By GWEN CHIPASULA –
SEASONED player Friday Ng’andu at the weekend retained his Chinese Ambassador’s table tennis title after beating upstart Choolwe Hamalambo in four straight sets at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka.
Ng’andu of Green Buffaloes easily picked up a 11-2, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 in the best of seven to easily claim the title and walk away with K3, 000, a medal and floating trophy while Hamalambo, who plays for Ping-Pong Stars, went away with K2, 500.
After bagging the men’s title, Ng’andu teamed up with Simasiku Kalaluka to defeat the pair of Hamalambo and Lloyd Mubanga in the doubles finals winning 3-2 (12-10, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4) and got K3, 000 while the losers went away with K1, 500.
The women’s final was won by Mubanga Kunda of Ping-Pong Stars who beat team-mate Janet Mwelwa 3-0 with set scores of 11-8, 11-5, 11-8. Kunda got K1, 000 while Mwelwa picked up K500.
According to results released by Zambia Table Tennis Association (ZTTA) coordinator Boyd Kabinda, Kunda later paired up with Latifah Nalavw and the duo beat the set of Ruth Mutailoni and Mwelwa 3-2 with scores of 11-8, 11-8, 14-12, 11-8, 11-8.
In the boy’s Under-14 final, Emmanuel Munga of Olympafrica beat Charles Mutambo of Chipata Primary in three straight sets winning 11-5, 11-4, 11-6.
The Chinese Embassy that pumped in K35, 000 towards hosting of the one day event, promised to continue sponsoring the championship on a yearly basis.