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Age-cheat is killing junior table tennis in Africa, says Tunisia coach

After watching some of the players registered by teams at the ongoing ITTF African Junior Championships holding in Accra, Ghana, the chief of coach of Tunisia, Ben Kahia Ghazi has lamented the growing trend of age falsification among the players.

He said that this ugly trend would hinder the standard of the sport at junior level in the continent.

Apart from the inroad made by the likes of Aruna Quadri and Omar Assar at senior levels, African players are fond of struggling at junior level in international tournaments.

“I am not too happy with the way some countries reduced the age of their players in order for them to feature in junior competitions. Some of these players are above the age they are playing and this will surely affect the standard of the game. In Tunisia, we work hard to produce players while others are not working hard rather they bring an adult to feature in junior tournament. Coaches must be ready to work hard to produce players and not wait to use adult players to compete in junior tournaments,” a disturbed Tunisian tactician said.

Apart from the impact this trend would had on the standard of the sport, the coach said that it would hamper such players from improving.

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