The reaction from Ecuador’s Alberto Miño was simple. "I have no choice", he said. "I am forced to improve!"
There is no other option for the young man from Guayaquil, his country’s largest city.
Alongside
Felipe Olivares he is attending the Heibeilutong Table Tennis School in
the city of Shijiazhuang, about two hours by train from Beijing, the
Chinese capital.
Both players have been present at the school throughout August.
ITTF Global Junior Programme Support
Felipe
Olivares and Alberto Mino are in Shijiazhuang following support from
the ITTF Global Programme, the Ecuadorian’s funding being as a result
of the Butterfly Scholarship awarded in conjunction with the
International Table Tennis Federation in 2006.
Furthermore, the
Heibeilutong Table Tennis School was the home for Paraguay’s Marcel
Aguirre, Colombia’s Paula Medina and Vanuatu’s Priscilla Tommy prior to
the Olympic Games; their attendance being organised under the auspices
of the ITTF Global Junior Programme.
Celebrated Names in Shijiazhuang
Meanwhile,
Poland’s Natalia Parytka has taken the opportunity to train at the
centre between Olympics and Paralympics as have several other players
who sought success in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Notably Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Chih-Yuan visited between the end of the team event and commencement of the singles in Beijing.
High Level
"All
the players are of a good level", explained Alberto Mino. "In Ecuador I
put three or four balls on the table and win the point, here you have
to do much more; sometimes it seems as though you must ten or twenty on
the table if you want to win."
Two Halls
A
good level of play is certainly the situation; two halls, a large hall
with some forty table tennis tables and a smaller with some twenty
tables. The smaller hall is for very young players, some only five
years old.
Sixteen coaches working, accommodation for seventy
foreign players plus one hundred and fifty Chinese and not a spare
table tennis table in sight.
Serious Approach
Herein
lies the reasons for Chinese success; there is this immense reservoir
of young players trying to gain a much sought after berth in the
national team, the majority on view would grace most country national
junior squad but in China gaining such a place is tougher than being
selected to play football for Manchester United.
"You must be
serious if you wish to succeed", said the very amiable Liu Wenging, the
Headmaster of the school. "I think many countries are not really
serious."
Resident
At the Heibeilutong Table Tennis School, they are serious.
Players
from twenty-six provinces in China from the age of five years old are
present; all are resident; that is some one hundred and twenty players.
Daily Schedule
They practise six days a week and rest on Sunday.
Each
day, training is 8.30 to 11.30 and 14.50 to 17.40. In the evening from
19.00 to 21.00 there are lessons in Mathematics, Chinese and English.
Speed of Play
Such an intensive schedule is virtually forced to reap results.
"Playing,
everything is so fast, the speed of the play is that much quicker, I
have to react instantly", continued Alberto Miño. "Each day starts with
a warm up and then consistency practice followed by service and receive
and sometimes matches; then in the afternoon multi-ball training."
Acclimatisation
After one month Alberto Mino has acclimatised to the speed of table tennis in China.
"It
took me at least a week to get used the training", continued Alberto
Mino. "Now, everything is fine; good accommodation, good food, I’m very
happy here."
All Smiles
There
was a broad smile on the face of Alberto Mino; in Shijiazhuang he is
learning, he is improving and quite simply in such a hotbed atmosphere
of intensive training, he has no choice, no choice at all.
Source: www.ittf.com
