Cape Town - A table tennis star from Lavender Hill achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the youngest player and first female to secure double victories at a recent national competition.
At just 15 years old, Rochica Sonday, from the Duinefontein Table Tennis Club in Grassy Park, clinched gold in both the SA U19 Girls Championship and the SA Ladies Open.
“I’ve been putting in all the hard work to win the women’s (title), which was the one thing I really wanted to win at nationals, so I’m really happy that I was able to win,” Sonday said.
The prodigy, who started her journey in table tennis at 9 years old, training three times a week, said her dedication finally paid off.
“After I won the women’s (title) I felt relieved because it felt like all my hard work had finally paid off,” she said.
The South African Table Tennis Open 2024 was held from September 21-29 at the Brixton Multipurpose Centre in Johannesburg.
In both finals, the Grade 10 learner from Lavender Hill High School faced tough competitors from the likes of Karen Pillay and Danisha Patel from KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg, respectively.
She overcame her opponents with impressive forehand and backhand drives.
“I felt nervous competing against players from different places, but I managed to hold my nerves and surprisingly, I surpassed them,” said Sonday.
The Duinefontein Table Tennis Club stands as a source of inspiration for many children from diverse backgrounds.
Club chairperson Wafeeq Domingo said Sonday’s accomplishments were a massive milestone for the club.
“As far as I know, she is the youngest in history to do it. Now that Rochica has done it at such an age, she is going to inspire the younger guys,” he said.
Fellow club members including Waydin Brown, who won the U13 SA Boys title, have consistently delivered outstanding performances at the tournament.
Domingo said their successes will encourage more children from various communities to take up the sport.
“We can just inspire more kids to play and unearth more talent, but funding restrictions makes it very difficult to operate in these areas,” he said.
Other Cape Town teams like Boundary Table Tennis Club from Bonteheuwel took four titles from the 10 that were up for grabs at the national tournament.
Brown’s mother, Stacey, said they always did their best to support their son.
“There are tough times when we don’t have money to support him in tournaments, but we push through,” she said.
Sonday said she is determined to pursue the sport on a global level.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za
Cape Argus