Table tennis: Curtain-raiser tournament |26 February 2020

Benstrong reigns supreme on comeback

• Sultan cruises to victory

After quite a long absence, one of Seychelles’ most elite players during her prime, Anniessa Benstrong, showed that she still got the winning ways on Sunday, clinching the Curtain-raiser title, upsetting number one female player Christy Kilindo.

The tournament which launched the 2020 table tennis season was marred by a poor turnout, with only nine male and two female players swinging their rackets at the Roche Caïman Omni-Sports Gymnasium.

In the women’s competition, the Curtain-raiser title was decided after only one match and Benstrong easily whitewashed Kilindo 3-0 for the perfect comeback.

In the male category, nine players turned up and they all played together in a round-robin league.

Reigning player of the year Godfrey Sultan easily cruised past, winning all his eight matches to finish first and claim his first title of the year.

With seven victories, Nicholas Esther finished second overall, ahead of Mario De Charmoy-Lablache who was third with six victories.

Roland Duval