How is the season going so far and what are your expectations for the remainder of the season?
The current season has been going very well for the team. This is the first year we have played together as the teams tend to change year on year, so we have to be happy really with our performance up to this point. At the time of writing, we have played 17 team matches with 13 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. I feel like division 1 this season has been one of the most competitive divisions in recent years, as there isn’t a team or an individual that has won all of their matches. There have been many close team matches, finishing with 5-5 draws or narrow 6-4 wins, as well as lots of close individual matches within. In January we won 4 matches and lost 1, which was a narrow 6-4 defeat to second placed team Lions B. As a team, Ryan Gilson, Matthew Casey and myself have all performed well so far and it has taken a full team effort for us to be in the position we are in now, including some often-decisive doubles wins. Going forward, we are hoping to go on and win the division this year, however we understand that there are a lot of close matches and so we need to keep focused and working hard throughout the remaining weeks.
What’s the attraction of table tennis?
Table tennis is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated sports out there. A lot of people don’t seem to appreciate the fine margins involved, especially when you take into account the spin and pace that can be put on the ball. A little-known fact is that in terms of reactions, table tennis is the fastest racket sport in the world, which (despite common belief) means that footwork is incredibly important. I think I also read somewhere that the ball can spin up to 150 times per second at professional level, which is far higher than in any other racket sport. I do think the main attraction of table tennis is that it caters to people of all ages, and you only need to go down to the table tennis centre on a Saturday morning to find that people playing up to the ages of 80+, week in week out. It’s a sport that a lot of people play casually when they go on holiday, but isn’t one that people necessarily think about taking up seriously. I’m hoping that this will change in the future and I couldn’t recommend it enough to people in Guernsey, as we are lucky to have fantastic facilities, as well as the recent addition of a former European Champion and World Championship semi-finalist Otilia Badescu as our development officer.
How can people get involved in table tennis?
As mentioned previously, table tennis really is for people of all ages, and the best way to find out all the information needed to get involved would be to go to the Guernsey Table Tennis Association website at www.gtta.org.uk
