D.G Hathiramani’s protege keen on reviving table tennis in Ghana

One year after launching a book that tells the story of how table tennis was introduced in Ghana by an Indian merchant D.G Hathiramani, Emmanuel Kofi Asare, junior African champion in the 1980s has been discussing the remedies to revive the sport in Ghana with AsaaseSports.

The German based Ghanaian launched the book titled, "D.G. Hathiramani Legacy, The Rise of Ghana Table Tennis” in March, 2022 delving into how D.G Hathiramani masterminded the formation of the Gold Coast Table Tennis Association in 1951 and how he trained, groomed and mentored ping pong greats including Ethel Jacks, three times African Champion; the Quaye Brothers–Samuel and Emmanuel Quaye and Emmanuel Asare himself.

“My main motivation was actually trying to put something historically down, because it's been actually one of the our deficits in Ghana that we seldom put down events which happened several years ago and then people tend to forget. So I'm just happy that there's something down sort of institutional memory for anyone who is really interested in knowing where table tennis is coming from". Emmanuel Asare told Asaasesports.

Emmanuel Asare believes it is necessary to take the game to other regions, organize competitions, get sponsors, and provide the proper equipment before the it can progress.

He said: “What we can do to actually revive the game is to take it to other regions in Ghana where we used to have in the 70s and 80s or even in the 1990s. We had table tennis hubs not only in Accra but also at Tema and then in Ashanti Region and also in the Western region

“We have to organize a lot of competitions, we have to get a lot of sponsors onto the table and that has always been the problem with round sports, sporting events like table tennis or maybe tennis or handball. All the money seems to go into football and it's hinders the the development of other other sports and we are trying to get a lot of people on board

“It's not easy if it's everyday fight, it's very difficult, but we have to really take it up and we have to organize a lot of competitions, because the
talents are over there and what I'm trying to do from Germany, where I'm located, is to get these in the international bodies, to get into it, to
provide us with equipment, and that is what we need

“We don't have the proper equipment to train the bats, the rubbers and even the places where the young people can train is a fiasco if you go to the DG at Hathriamani Sports Hall, we have the floors totally not in order. We we have to get all these things in place before we can really progress.”