Sejal, Mutua turn bats on Commonwealth after Top 16 exit

Sejal Thakkar and Brian Mutua quickly shifted their sights on the April Commonwealth Games following their ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup exit on Thursday.

The duo said they hope rubbing shoulders with continental stars at the Kasarani Indoor Arena will boost their performances at the ten-day Commonwealth competitions in Gold Coast, Australia.

“We know that these are the top 16 African players so the standards are very high. I am happy have learnt a lot that I will polish on my approach next month,” Sejal said.

In her first match, she went down 0-3 (11-3, 13-11, 15-13) to against Katia Kessaci with Sejal admitting that being left-handed, her Algerian opponent presented a challenge she has never met before.

She went on to lose 1-3 (11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3) to Seychelles’ Bristol Christy before the 0-3 (11-3, 13-11, 15-13) defeat to second-ranked African Oshonaike Olufunke of Nigeria confirming her exit.

Mutua, 19, put on a courageous fight but winning at least a set in two of his matches was not good enough to keep in hunt for the top prize.

“The matches were tough and I have learnt a lot of things which I will apply in my next matches. My spirit will not die as we go for the ranking. The top players are very good at attacking and that is something we need to work on as Kenyans,” the youngster stated.

Mutua went down 0-3 to Saheed Idowu Congo Brazzaville in his first match, 1-3 to Cameroun’s Derek Ofon Nyoh before losing by the same scoreline against Olympian Aruna Quadri in his final bow.