Star Mutua lands pro-stint

Kenya's Brian Mutua during the International Table Tennis Federation Africa Cup at Kasarani Gymnasium, March 1, 2018. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenya's top table tennis player Brian Mutua has landed a three-month professional training in Denmark starting this September.

Mutua, who represented Kenya at both the ITTF Africa World Cup Qualifiers held in Nairobi in March and the Gold Coast Games in Australia, will now have the opportunity to play with some of the best players in the World.

While in Denmark Mutua, will play in the Danish League with top players from all over the world.

“We hope that Mutua will be able to open doors for more Kenyan players to be able to join professional clubs in Europe,” Andrew Mudibo, the Kenya Table Tennis Association President, said yesterday.

Mudibo, who has been in Halmstad, Sweden attending board meetings of the International Table Tennis Federation and also the World Table Tennis Champions, said the future of table tennis in Kenya is bright.

“KTTA has in the past sent Peter Theuri, Josiah Wandera and Alikhan Kaiza to France for specialised training and we feel we can grow the sport in the country. These opportunities to play abroad will inspire others to take up this sport,” Mudibo said. 

Mudibo disclosed that San-Ei, who are suppliers of table tennis tables to the Olympic Games held in Rio and also the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will be donating a total of 50 tables towards the ‘Let the Girls Shine’ programmes that KTTA is running in conjunction with Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA).

Selected schools and youth groups around the country will also benefit from the donations, KTTA said.

At the same time, Table Tennis England have renewed their commitment to work closely with the KTTA in ensuring that local programmes can benefit from the English game.

Meanwhile, Kenya Table Tennis Association will be holding its elections next month after the Association's Council meeting decides on the election date later this month.