Ghana’s number one table tennis seed, Derek Abrefa AKA Grandmaster has made himself and country proud by annexing silver and bronze at the 2023 London Grand Prix Table Tennis championship.
The experienced Abrefa who has represented Ghana at the Commonwealth and African Games was at his best on the table as he clinched second and third places in men’s Band 1 and Restricted Men’s Singles respectively.
The 2023 Grand Prix attracted over 200 top players from Romania, Poland, Holland, Scotland, Russia, India, Nigeria, Germany and USA in one of the biggest table tennis events in the United Kingdom.
Abrefa who was in impressive form had an excellent start, topping his group as he progressed to the round of 32.
He was eventually beaten in the final by a Romanian who got the gold, while he received the silver.
In an exclusive interview, he thanked his Black Loopers teammmates, colleagues at Ghana Immigration as well as coaches Eben Whyte, Raphael Munkoh and Eric Hammond and executives and Presidents of the Ghana Table Table Association (GTTA), Mawuko Afadzinu who is also first Vice-President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC).
Abrefa is on record as one of the most decorated Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) award winners.
His former national teammate, Emmanuel Asante won Glgold in the Band 3 event and also impressed in the Band 2 event at the Grand Prix.
“My European training tour in preparation towards the 2024 Africa Games has helped me improve my skills. I am very happy about my recent performance and believe that with this training continuing till 2024, me and my teammates will win a medal for Team Ghana,” he said.
Credit: Sammy Heywood Okine
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