MARK ETHERIDGE: Table tennis returns to Africa after 84 years

Durban has laid the table out in smashing fashion as the World Table Tennis Championships make a long-awaited bounce-back to the African continent.

It’s been an inordinately long time since Africa was hosting the global slamfest — 84 long years ago in 1939. That was when Egypt, on the opposite end of the continent, entertained the championships.

Cape Town has always had a vibrant table tennis culture and will have a powerful presence in Durban. Not only does the country’s second-ranked women’s player Musfiquh Kalam come from the Mother City but so does the country’s most decorated official.

Genevieve Lentz will fill the role of deputy referee as players from 64 countries descend on Durban.

“We will have two main halls and the referees will be divided among the two halls. This is undoubtedly my second-biggest highlight in an official capacity — I was first deputy at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Lentz.

“I also served as an umpire at the 2010 World Championships in Moscow, Russia, before qualifying as an international referee in 2017. So yes, I’m absolutely stoked to officiate at a world championships in my own country,” she says.

As for Kalam, she comes into the world championships after an extensive period of travel and training, having only got back to SA on Sunday from a three-week training camp in India.

She has been under the watchful eyes of coach Graham van As since she was about 10 years old. Earlier in May she turned 21, meaning she already has been playing the sport for half her life.

A product of Trafalgar High School, the Bonteheuwel-based player is now a third-year student at Rosebank College where she is studying foundation phase teaching.

“I always used to watch my two brothers playing at Boundary Table Tennis Club,” she says. “But I was only learning in a visual sense instead of actually hitting a ball.”

Her first SA championships were 10 years ago in Belhar. “I didn’t have personal coaching then, only the following year did Graham come on board when I won my first national title at U12 level. I defended the title year after year until I was 16, lost it at 17 and regained it at 18!”

Like so many table tennis players from the Cape Flats area of Cape Town (former national champions Theo Cogill and Shaun Jones can attest), Kalam says the sport has proved to be a distraction from the prevailing harsh socioeconomic conditions.

“Table tennis means so much to me. From a young age, it brought me closer to family and friends, helped me shape myself and also taught me how to be disciplined and what to sacrifice.

“My sport took me away from all the negativity in Bonteheuwel where young girls of my age are getting pregnant, smoking, drinking and partying. I chose to keep myself busy with table tennis so as not to fall into that negative atmosphere.”

She says Van As has been a rock in her life. “Not only was he my role model but he was my supporter, my motivator, he kept me on track and showed me the bigger picture.”

So important a figure in her life was Van As that her parents allowed their precious daughter to have a figure from outside the family system to help forge her path through life.

Her sport has also brought more to the table, literally. “I was able to help provide in my household. My mom’s a full-time housewife and my dad is the sole breadwinner — he’s a team leader in the City of Cape Town — but the little money I’ve earned through table tennis has given me the privilege of also being able to put something on the table for my parents and family.”

Feet on the ground

Looking ahead she hopes that the fact that she’s doing well in her chosen sport and studies will bear fruition. “I pressured my dad into allowing me to study so I can help take them into a better space and be comfortable because in SA table tennis doesn’t provide a big income and we aren’t as exposed on the internet like the Asian players are.”

As for the world champs starting on Saturday, she’s keeping her feet on the ground. “I’m simply going to try my best in both the singles and doubles, see where my strengths and weakness are and just never give up.”

Apart from being Kalam’s personal coach Van As, 56, is head coach at Boundary Table Tennis Club (which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year) and the Cape Town Table Tennis coaching convener.

“Musfiquh’s always been incredibly hardworking and dedicated, always doing her best on and away from the table. She never gives up and always attempts to finish what she starts. She has the willpower and her dedication which will take her far.

“As for the world champs, she must just do her best. What’s important in my mind is that she’s going to be playing the world’s best players. Now she must bring back all that invaluable experience and share it with the youngsters in Cape Town and, in fact, all over the country.”