THE Honiara Table Tennis Association (HTTA) and the Smash Down Barriers (SDB) Youth Competition 2024 was successfully staged at the Multipurpose Hall last week.
The two-day competition, which kicked off on Thursday, concluded on Friday with an awards presentation ceremony.
The competition featured children aged under 12 and under 15 in two categories -Boys’ Category and Girls’ Category.
With the successful hosting of the table tennis youth competition 2024, new champions were crowned in both categories.
In boy’s category, James Kado was the winner, beating Denton Luda in the grand final playoff and leaving him to settle for the second spot.
Nelson Jnr settled for third place after beating Adrian Sanga in the third-place playoff.
In Girl’s Category, Jayla Olea secured the first place after defeating Leowysa Sanga in the grand-final, leaving Sanga to settle in the second place.
Jessie Kausi secured the third place after beating Patricia Liuramo in the third-place playoff.
Presenting the awards was the East Choiseul Constituency Officer (CDO) Collin Bemana Qalokisa.
Mr Bemana, in his remarks, highlighted the MP for East Choiseul and Minister for Finance and Treasury, Manasseh Sogavare’s passion for sport, which he said drives the longtime politician to continue supporting sport in the country.
“I can say Honourable Sogavare’s support to Table Tennis today is not new as he himself is a sport man and at the same time, a national leader. He will continue to support sport development in the country.
“I understand Honourable Sogavare has supported the HTTA and I can only assure you that he will continue to support you in the future,” CDO Bemana said.
CDO Bemana further encouraged the youth who were part of the competition to remain committed to table tennis.
HTTA President and SDB Coordinator Kevin Olea told Star Sport after the competition that the competition was the first of its kind in Honiara.
Olea said they were able to host it with the support of the International Table Tennis Federation Oceania (ITTFO).
“As the Country Coordinator of Smash Down Barriers and the President of HTTA, I was really impressed to see how the young boys and girls actively involved, participated and competed and discovered new skills in this year’s competition.
“Regardless of who are the winners and losers in this year’s competition, we are trying to turn the other side of the coin, in that that those who were left out from other sport have been involved in table tennis.
“I can say that this is a great platform where we can develop young and junior athletes for the future. So, we will work closely with the National Federation and Oceania Table Tennis Federation in preparing our athletes for events next year such as the Junior Championship in Auckland,” he added.
Olea acknowledged MP Sogavare for his continuous support to table tennis and for believing in young people’s talents in table tennis and that sport can turn young people in the society from anti-social behaviours.
By FLOYD TERRY JNR
Solomon Star, Honiara
