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STAFF REPORTER
COUNTING down on Friday to 50 days before South Africa plays host to the World Table Tennis Championship Finals, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Zizi Kodwa, said the tournament is a significant event in the sporting calendar.
“We are grateful to the International Table Tennis Federation for granting us the honour of hosting the event, and we have no doubt that Mr Joe Carrim’ and his colleagues at the South African Table Tennis Board, will leave no stone unturned to make it a great African experience,” Kodwa said.
“Sport, Arts and Culture are important levers of social cohesion and nation-building and play a major role in promoting tourism and boosting the economy of our country hence we are grateful to host this prestigious sporting competition,” he said.
The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals is returning to Africa for the first time since Egypt in 1939, and Durban, South Africa, is gearing up to host this year’s event.
A hippopotamus, named Takuma, which embodied the strength and abundance of Africa’s cultural heritage and was chosen as the official mascot for the World Championships.
Takuma was designed by Tumelo Nkoana, a 13-year-old from Mogogelo Village north of Pretoria, who won a nationwide competition to select a mascot for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in 2013, beating over 180 other entries. Since then, Takuma has become the mascot for all sports in South Africa.
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