Kenya national table tennis champion, Brian Mutua will be making his second appearance at the bi-annual ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup in Tunis later this month and the 21-year-old undergraduate of Physical Sciences at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, believes he is a contender for the title against favourite, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri.
Mutua who described Quadri as his role model is eager to change the course of history when the tournament which serves as qualifiers for the ITTF World Cup kicks off on February 24 in Tunisia.
The Eastern Africa regional champion told NationSport that, “I have been training physically and in game situations in preparation for the tournament. Also, I have been working on my mistakes from past tournaments. My main aim is to be able to make it to the top four, as this will give me a chance to be listed among the best in Africa. Getting to the top four will give me the opportunity to contest for the title against Aruna Quadri who to me remains the best player in Africa.”
In readiness for the tournament, Mutua said: “So far I have been able to play against a lot of foreign players, therefore I have learnt a lot from them and I hope to implement what I learnt in Tunisia. The diversity of the players in this tournament is what makes it unique as there are a lot of different players with different styles.
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He added: “After 18 months training in Denmark, I now have more confidence as I approach this tournament and I think that this time there are chances of making it to the podium.