Ghana’s top seed in Table Tennis, Derek Abrefa, is making great waves in the United Kingdom as he represented Central London to beat Birmingham in an important tournament played over the weekend.
8 teams played qualifiers in their respective Zones to qualify for the top 8 for the Finals of Finals
According to Abrefa, formerly of Ghana Immigration, it was a big win for Team Central London on Saturday after winning the Gold at the 2025 Wilmott Cup Finals in Draycott, United Kingdom.
“It was a moment of joy for me as my name would also go into the history books of the English Leagues Cup Competitions, one of the longest existing Table Tennis England-sanctioned leagues, which has existed as far back as 1979,” he expressed.
“I encountered a very stiff challenge after my bat was disqualified. I overstretched my rubber during glueing and forgot to recheck as I thought it would take weeks for the rubber to shrink on the blade. I think I overstretched it. The umpire alerted the referee, and after a cross-examination, I had to change my racket because the League goes strictly by the international rules. Forgetting to go with my spare bat, I had to play the tournament with any available bat of my colleagues who weren’t on the court playing,” he explained.
“As some players would lose hope in situations like this, I was rather motivated to fight on. In the battlefield, it’s not the sword that brings victory to the warrior but rather the man behind the sword that determines the outcome of a war,” he said.
According to the ‘Grandmaster’, as he is also called, his teammates thought it was all over for them until they saw him pushing his way through with their bats (racket), progressing the team to the finals, where he had to play the decider match of the day. Point by point, rally against rally, he gradually sealed it. Winning 11-9 in the fifth to secure the ultimate position with his team.
“Yes, we won the Gold. My utmost thanks go to God Almighty for bringing me this far. I also thank Central London, SKT Club, and ebaTT Club for inspiring me to this level. Special thanks to my teammate Oleg Biletskyi, with whom we fought to attain the top spot. And to you all out there who made this possible with your prayers and motivation, God richly bless you all,” he added.
By Sammy Heywood Okine
