The new table on display in a tennis game
The first-ever African-made table tennis table ‘TAKO’ has been unveiled in the Western Region.
The table which is made up of 100% high-quality Ghanaian materials international standard was launched by the country director of Ping San Frontieres, Ishmael Abraham Armah last weekend at the Takoradi mall.
Ping San Frontieres was founded by France-based Cameroonian lawyer and professional table tennis player Sarah Hanffou the with aim of reducing the ecological footprints and making table tennis accessible and as a tool for global development.
With this, she instituted this social business in Ghana called (Tako by PSF) where local artisans are empowered through remuneration as they build table tennis tables. Proceeds of these TAKO tables are used to fund educational programmes known as EDUDRIVE TT in Western and Greater Accra.
Mr. Francis Frimpong, an Assigned Competition Manager of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), who is also a Sports Biomechanists, and lecturer at the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (HPERS) of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) inspected the newly developed tables at the unveiling.
He guided the audience through the ITTF standards to demonstrate how TAKO tables meet international standards in all aspects; length: 2.74m, width: 1.525m, height: 76cm.
Also present at the launch was the Metro P.E Coordinator, Victor Farmeh.
He emphasized on the need to promote table tennis at the schools especially during these hard times of the covid-19 pandemic.
He appealed to schools, individuals, and organisations to take this opportunity and purchase TAKO tables for the development of table tennis in the country.
The country director of Ping San Frontieres, Mr. Ishmael Abraham Armah in his speech stated that the introduction and benefits of the TAKO tables would help reduce the high cost of importing tables, promoting of the game in schools and in the communities, provide educational materials and also help remunerate our local artisans.
As part their long term plan, he hinted that TAKO tables are expected be part of all table tennis development programmes in Ghana and across the African continent.
He said their hope is to make TAKO Tables and table tennis more accessible to the greater masses in Ghana and beyond.
He expressed his profound gratitude to the founder and president of Ping San Frontieres, Ghana Table Tennis Association and all the media houses for their support.
He was also grateful to the management of Takoradi Mall, the Western Region Table Tennis Club, and to all individuals and organisations who supported the initiative.
TAKO Tables have a playing surface thickness of 18mm which is above the approved minimum thickness of 15mm. Again, TAKO Tables yield a uniform bounce above 23cm when a ball is dropped from a height of 30cm. TAKO Tables are durable and easily movable for transporting and assembling. These key requirements makes TAKO Tables appropriate for both training and competition.
“TAKO” was derived from Takoradi.