Wide Ranging Activities Celebrate Friendship Trophy
March 16, 2010

Presentation time in Djibouti Photo By: Farah Hassan Farah

Courtesy of ITTF Barbados, Djibouti, England, Paraguay and Sri Lanka were all hives of activity on Monday March 8, 2010. The reason: it was the Friendship Trophy, a competition to promote women in sport, camaraderie and the fun of playing table tennis; the result of an idea sown in Lausanne at the ITTF Headquarters.

It was very much International Women’s Day as a wide range of activities celebrated the occasion.

Undoubtedly the day highlighted the fact that, even though sport is by nature competitive, it is also a unifying force.

Djibouti
In Djibouti a Women Singles tournament in the Stade Gouled Hall was staged with 32 women taking part; the competition started at 2:00pm and concluded at 10:00pm.

Parents, officials of Djiboutian Ministry of sports, the Vice President of the National Olympic Committee, President of Djiboutian Women and Sports, a representative from the Chinese Embassy representative plus a member of the Ethiopian community and a government delegate from the Djibouti administration was present.

A total of 20 ITTF Women Development pins were presented on what proved to be a most rewarding and exciting day.

Try Table Tennis
Meanwhile in England the celebrated English club, Ormesby in the north east of the country, under the direction of Jose Ransome, Brenda Stephenson and Steve Brunskill, organized a “Come and Try Table Tennis Day”.

The initiative taken by the Ormesby club was very appropriate; recently they won both the Women’s British League and Junior Girls’ British League titles for the 2009-2010 season.

Detailed Program
Successful members of the teams Karina Lefevre, Karen Shepherd, Chloe Whyte and Jessica Dawson gave a demonstration during the evening with light refreshments and an opportunity to sign up for all present to enjoy table tennis.

In addition to the elite coaching program, coaching sessions for all ages and all abilities are staged are staged at the Ormesby club.

Table tennis tables are available on Monday and Thursday mornings for a very popular coaching session for those aged over 50; coaching for women is available on Tuesday, disability sessions on a Wednesday morning and evening with Saturday morning being the time you children to try table tennis.

Mixed Doubles
Similarly, Paraguay was buoyant where a mixed doubles tournament was held to recognize international women’s day.

Organized by the Paraguayan Table Tennis Federation, the Salesian Table Tennis Club was the home for 34 players, 17 mixed doubles pairs.

A very successful event, many of the highest sports authorities of Paraguay attended including Paulo Bernardo Reichardt (Sports Minister), Ramón Zubizarreta (President Paraguayan Olympic Committee), Paulo Bernardo Reichardt (Sports Minister) and Real Benjamin (President of the Paraguay Table Tennis Federation).

Multi-Sports Event
Two days earlier on Saturday March 6th, the Association of Employees of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Afemec) hosted a multi-disciplinary program to celebrate International Women's Day.

Organized by the Women and Sport Commission of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, table tennis was very much to the fore with two very young players capturing the limelight, eight years old Celia Toja and nine years old Leyla Gomez.

Assisting with the organization was Lucero Ovelar, a member of the Paraguayan national team, thanks to her efforts table tennis proved a very popular option.

Sri Lanka
Similarly in Sri Lanka it was a busy day of competition on Monday March 8, 2010. Team events were organized, such was the enthusiasm for the competition that five separate divisions were organized.

Under the direction of Chandana, such was the enthusiasm for the competition that five separate divisions were organized.

Under the direction of Chandana Perera, Kithmadi Ranawaka and Deeksha Rodrigo of the Tibhar Sports Team won the Friendship Trophy with Ishara Madurangi, the national champion on three occasions and the national captain, presented the prizes.

Caribbean Smiles
Equally, in the Caribbean island of Barbados it was all smiles, a wide age range and ability range was the order of the day and as in Djibouti, England, Paraguay and Sri Lanka, a very successful and enjoyable day was held.

Monday March 8, 2010 was truly a day for friendship.

All smiles in Sri Lanka
Photo by Chandana Perera

A good time was enjoyed by all in the Caribbean
Photo by Keith Neblett

A successful day in Paraguay
Photo courtesy of Sandy Gavilan