Accra, April 1, GNA - Mohammed Ali of the Central Region defeated his Greater Accra Regional counterpart, Felix Lartey 3-1 in the finals, to win the Akosombo Textile Limited (ATL) Invitational Table Tennis Championship played at the Seven Great Princess Academy School in Accra on Saturday.

Ali, who was a delight to watch, won 11-7, 11-9 and 11-4, while Lartey gained his only win on 11-4, in the keenly contested competition. On their way to the finals, Ali edged out Derek Abrefa from the Greater Accra Region 3-1, while Lartey beat Cosmos Oppong from the Ashanti Region 3-0.

In the Ladies event, Francisca Amankrah emerged champion by beating Linda Annor 3-2.

The event was aimed at selecting players to represent Ghana in the All African Games scheduled for Algeria in July, this year. Mr Samuel Hemans Arday, Adverts and Promotions Manager of ATL said the company sponsored the competition as its social contribution to the promotion and the development of the sport.

He expressed the hope that players would take their training seriously so that they would make Ghana proud at the games. Mr Kwame Amponfi (Jnr), Secretary General of the Ghana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) said 10 boys and 10 girls based on their rankings, would be selected for a justifier at the end of April, where six boys and six girls would then be selected from the 20 for another camping. He said the 12 would then be joined by two foreign-based players for another camping where the final players of four boys and four girls would be picked to form the national team for the Algeria Games.

Mr Amponfi said a proposal by the GTTA and the National Sports Council to the Chinese Embassy to send six players and a chaperon to China was awaiting response from the Embassy.