Ghana has been handed the mantle to host two major International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) tournaments in April.

The two World Championships; the World Junior Circuit (WJC) and African Junior and Cadet Championship (AJCC), would take place in Accra from the April 1-5 and April 7 to 13, 2019 respectively.

This was made when a delegation from the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF), led by its President, Khaled El-Salhy paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Isaac Asiamah, who stated that, the government was willing to restore its lost glory by staging the tournaments.

The minister was grateful to the ITTF and ATTF for choosing Ghana to host such important tournaments as the country possess great potentials in table tennis.

“We are ready to host the world and Africa in April and all arrangement in terms of security, accommodation and transportation will be addressed.

"We are also grateful to ITTF for deciding to provide table tennis equipment which has already been shipped to Ghana for the tournaments. For us, we want to use sports as a tool for job creation and that is why we want to develop others sports and not focusing on football.

"I must also let you know that table tennis is one of our priorities sports that we intend to use to create jobs for our youths. I must also commend the leadership role showed by Mawuko Afadzinu and we want to assure him our support,” Mr. Asiamah stated.

Mr. Khaled El-Salhy, President of ATTF in his remarks stated that, Ghana is one of the powerhouses of table tennis in the 1970s and in the last five years, the Mawuko Afadzinu-led GTTA board has been making frantic efforts to restore the glory of Ghana in the sport.

“We know the potential of Ghana in table tennis and I was sure that with the staging of this kind of tournament, the country has the chance to unearth talents that will bring back the glory of Ghana.

“ITTF and ATTF will continue to support Ghana and with the staging of the tournament, Ghana will be the focus and this will surely project the image of Africa and Ghana,” the ATTF boss said.

The WJC is one of the ITTF junior circuits, where players across the globe amass points to qualify for the end-of-the-year World Junior Finals, while the AJCC is Africa’s qualifiers for the World Junior Championship as well as a platform to select African team for the World Cadet Challenge.