With the help of the experienced and successful Austrian coach Liu Yanjun, two training sessions per day were held at the state-of-the-art Aspire Academy in preparation for the upcoming competition.

For the boys’ training, athletes from Romania, Australia, India, Austria, Kazakhstan and of course Qatar participated, while for the girls, Romania, India, Italy, Croatia and Ireland were present.

It was an opportunity for athletes and coaches to work together, facilitated by ITTF High Performance Elite Coach Massimo Costantini. In order to best benefit from the activity, players will of course have to continue with the work at home.

“It was a pleasure for me to take part in this youth training camp as a coach of ITTF. I must say it was a high level training camp, very professional, and very well organized. The training contents are also step by step in details. It’s a good idea that the responsible coaches who work with the players every day are also here in the camp to work together with us so that they can continue what the players learned in the camp at home. I hope in the future that ITTF organize such kind of high quality camp more often, and I hope the players can continue practicing what they learned at home so that they can use them in the match to get more success!” Liu Yanjun (AUT), ITTF Expert

In addition to the technical/tactical part, emphasis was also given to the physical aspect. Table tennis sessions were complemented by daily fitness sessions, focused mainly on flexibility and agility of the body, led by Aspire Academy’s fitness coach Catalin Ionita.

In collaboration with Stupa Analytics, the sessions were equipped with technical/tactical analysis by means of their Artificial Intelligence technology. Players and coaches were able to receive immediate feedback of their work at the table.

“It was a pleasure for us to be part of this training camp, very good conditions for practice, very good hospitality and also a very good team of coaches. It was a nice experience. Hope we can make it again soon” Madalin Ionascu (ROU), coach

All in all, it was a period of intense collaborative work between the invited coaches along with their athletes.

“Thank you very much for the opportunity to train under your leadership with the strongest young men in the world!  We have benefited greatly.  I saw the difference in the level of training of Kazakhstani athletes and athletes from other countries.  I know what to work on next.  Once again I thank you and your High Performance team and wish you good energy to prepare many generations of world champions!” Elmira Aliyeva (KAZ), coach

“Thanks everyone for giving the Qatar team the opportunity to join this camp. It was a very valuable experience for our young players.” Peter Karlsson (QAT), coach

“Quality practice with quality coaching in a top class venue” Conn Higgins (IRL), coach

“Thank you for a great camp. The boys had a great preparation for the tournament and learned a lot. As usual I also learned many things from everyone.” John Murphy (AUS), coach