The Hindu : Sport / Table Tennis : Now focus on 2010 C’wealth Games

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Tuesday, Jul 22, 2008
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Sport - Table Tennis

Now focus on 2010 C’wealth Games

New Delhi: With a medal at Olympics still a distant dream for Indian table tennis, the team’s Belarussian coach Aleksey Yefremov has focussed his energies on preparing the paddlers for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held here.

Yefremov said he would leave no stone unturned to achieve the target of coming up with the best performance at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

“My priority is to prepare ourselves to put up a good performance in the Commonwealth Games, which will be hosted in the Indian capital in 2010. We are working very hard to achieve our target,” he said.

Strong belief

The foreign coach, who was appointed after being recommended by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) earlier this year, strongly believes that more international outings would sharpen the skills of Indian paddlers.

“To perform well in the international arena, we have to play much more international matches, which, I think, will help our paddlers to know about different types of players and their techniques all over the world. These will certainly add to their experience.

“Domestic tournaments are good, but internationals are important as well. Table tennis is not a game of reflex only, but of experience also,” Yefremov insisted.

The coach believes the same formula applies to India’s Olympics preparations also and said more international matches should be arranged for the two Beijing-bound paddlers A. Sharath Kamal and Neha Aggarwal.

“Both of them are highly talented and could change many calculations on their day as a lot depends on how a player is performing on a particular day or the moment.” — PTI

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