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Takudzwa Chitsiga-Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Table Tennis Union secretary-general Tinashe Duri said the month-long training camp they attended in China will help the union in a big way.
Zimbabwe last month managed to send the trio of Tatenda Mumvuma, Tinotenda Fambira and Duri for the training camp that was aimed at improving tactics and techniques of players and coaches.
Duri said the opportunity to meet athletes and coaches from countries such as Tunisia, Uganda, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Turkey, Benin and Jordan was an eye-opener for them and they will take what they learnt to all provincial representatives.
“We are happy that we were given an opportunity to attend a lifetime training camp which had 11 other countries. The training was conducted by former Chinese national team coaches and players who come from the best academies in China. There were various organised local games against clubs in Zhejiang Province.
“Our team did learn a lot and we now appreciate that success does not come in the form of magic but through hard work. We trained for four hours each day with the morning sessions being for multi-ball training and afternoon sessions were for single ball training.
“Our game has changed and I am sure we can change history starting from our region as we are not resting,” said Duri.
Duri believes the training camp will help them as they have realised how other countries are participating in major open tournaments.
“We have realised that other countries are improving because they are playing in major open tournaments against some top opponents. This has helped us as we now look forward to attend the Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda open tournaments this year.
“We are hopeful that we will be considered again in 2024 as this is the correct pathway for our teams to continue improving,” added Duri.
Online Reporter