Ghana's top table tennis star, Derek Abrefa emerged champion of the 2020 Westchester January Open Tournament in the United States of America (USA) after outwitting Cedric Ange Oba, 3-2 in the final of the competition which took place between January 25 to 26.
Prior to his victory over the Ivorian in the final, Abrefa had beaten Jayden Zhou, by 3-1 in the semi-finals and had already outclassed Charlie Wang, by the same scoreline in the quarter-finals of the competition.
For his prize, the Immigration Officer was awarded with a trophy and cash prize for his enviable feet for being the best in the competition.
The 2500 rating competition is touted as the second highest level rated competition in the USA and it attracts top players from various states in the country and others such as China, Ivory Coast, India, Dominican Republic, Italy, Ghana and others.
The 2015 African Games bronze medalist expressed his joy to the Graphic online and again was thankful to Stanbic Bank for sponsoring his six months training tour in U.S.A
" 'I thank God for this great victory in the Westchester Table Tennis Opens and also I am very grateful to Stanbic Bank Moneywallet for supporting me on this training tour. It wasn't easy for me because of the level of players in the tournament, but with determination and hard work, I made it to the finals and won the ultimate prize, " Abrefa spoke joyfully.
With Abrefa's strong ambition for success in the sports, he had earlier competed in the Opens event (the topmost competition), however, he failed to progress to the semi- finals stage after losing to Jian Li of China in the quarter finals stages, he had qualified to that stage after placing second in his group.
Abrefa is still pitching camp in USA and preparing feverishly to compete in the qualifies of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics games.