13 Apr 2025

Young and promising local table tennis player, Reneilwe Lekorwe’s excellent performance has been recognised by the Africa Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) and has been selected to benefit from the ATTF Youth Grant.

Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) president, Kudzanani Motswagole said he would receive a financial support of US$1 250 (over P17 000), which would be used at the approved events such as the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Series for official hospitality packages and/or international training camps.

He said Reneilwe represented the country well at the Hopes Challenge in Namibia in 2023, and at a similar event hosted by the country in 2024 as well as the Commonwealth Youth Championship.

“This grant will run for a year, but not limited to that period as he could benefit for more years to come looking at his progress. At BTTA, based on the budget, we must choose international tournaments that he must partake in,” he said.

Motswagole said the youth grant helped to grow table tennis in countries still lagging behind and in need of aid to develop young talent.

He said the programme focused on inclusivity and giving equal opportunities to promising young player from across the world.

He said ATTF was doing all to support promising players by giving them a platform to have a feel of international competitions through participation.

He said receiving a grant to participate in international table tennis event must come as a motivation to other young players and was a testament that there were opportunities for growth.

“We need more young athletes to come in large numbers so that they can equally benefit. There are many other opportunities, and even the local tournaments award players with monetary prizes, which was equally a motivation for one to excel as it augmented what the parents contributed to their development,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 12-year-old was recently celebrated and honoured by his clubs Smash Maniacs Table Tennis Club and received a token of appreciation worth P4 000 toward supporting his development in the game.

Currently, ranked number one in the country in the U-13 category, Reneilwe is under the tutelage of his father, a table tennis coach and teacher by profession, Brown Sebokolodi. The left handed player whose style of play is dominated by attacking mode grew up in a table tennis family as his sibling and father play the game.

Locally, he dominated the U-12 category winning the BTTA Independence Grand Finale Tournament 2021, 2022, the India@75 (Indian Independence Celebrations) tournament in 2021 and 2022 and Smash Maniacs Clash of the Titans U-12 Champion among others.

Reneilwe was the U-12 champion at the South Africa Junior and Senior Championships held at University of Kwazulu Natal in 2022 as well as bronze at the same championship in 2023 in Cape Town.

He also won silver at the International Table Tennis Federation Southern Africa Hopes Week and Challenge in Windhoek, Namibia in 2023, as well as gold at the Limpopo Table Tennis Association (LTTA) Open Tournament in January 2024.

He is also a recipient of a bronze medals at the Gauteng North Open Tournament in March 2024 and the Commonwealth Championships in Gaborone in December 2024. Ends