By SANDRA MWILA –

THE Zambia Table Tennis Association (ZTTA) has described 2013 as the best-ever year for the association after scooping the Sports In Action (SIA) Best Federation Of The Year award.

ZTTA on December 19 was awarded with the best association accolade at the Taj-Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, their first-ever in history.

The SIA Awards are held to honour associations and individuals involved in the promotion of sports for the youth and grassroots levels.

In a Press statement to the Times, ZTTA thanked the SIA executive for recognising their hard work that prompted them to be nominated for the prestigious award.

ZTTA president, Charles Chenda also said the 2013 was a successful season as the association fulfilled all activities on its calendar.

“The year 2013 has been a great year in the history of table tennis because we managed to organise well over 10 competitions for both the junior and senior teams,” he said.

Chenda paid tribute of the national junior team for having won the Three-Nation Championship in Zimbabwe and individuals like Choolwe Hamalambo and Mercy Yuta for dominating the Under-16 National Championship.

He attributed the success of the ZTTA 2013 season to the hard work of their patron, Haroon Ghumra and affiliates for ensuring the players attended all competitions.

Chenda also thanked sponsors, the Olympic Youth Development Centre, the Sports Council of Zambia and the Ministry of Youth and Sport for their support during the 2013 table tennis activities.

He challenged all teams and members of the ZTTA executive to work extra hard in 2014 and appealed to sponsors to continue rendering support to the development of the sport.