Drive to raise profile of the sport

DISABLED table-tennis is on the rise in East London as local top-level disabled table-tennis coach Nigel Adams attempts to improve interest in the sport.

While there are a number of junior paralympic players in the region, senior players are scarce and Adams hopes a couple of big events in the near future will lead to some added interest in the sport.

“We have a lot of juniors in para, who mainly come from schools, however we need more senior players over 18 years,” he said.

“We have two big upcoming district tournaments. Buffalo City Table-Tennis Union will have theirs on July 25 and from there players move to the Eastern Cape provincial tournament in August that is taking place in Mthatha this year.”

In South Africa, paralympic table-tennis falls under the South African Table-Tennis Board (SATTB) and tournaments take place in all provinces.

From there, players represent their province at the SA Para champs to get selected for the South African team.

The classes of disability are 1-5 for wheelchair players and 6-10 for standing players based on the disability, so players can be evenly matched. Paralympic table-tennis in the country is of a good standard according to Adams, although he believes they need to compete more internationally.

“The standard of para table-tennis in the country is quite high.

“Our para team qualified for the Commonwealth Games. However, because they work on a ranking/point system our players need more exposure in international tournaments to gain factor points for a good ranking to qualify for the Paralympics,” said Adams.

Adams recently travelled with the SATTB’s national para table-tennis team to the 2015 ITTF Para Bayreuth Open Tournament in Germany.

None of the players were from the Eastern Cape.

He travelled as one of two coaches, while Mthatha-based Linda Nkomonye went as manager of the team and both Adams and Nkomonye are a part of the Eastern Cape Table-Tennis Association.

Adams believes that the region can produce top-class players if more get involved and realise their talent.

“I believe that the sport can grow with the support of the department of sport, municipalities and sponsors,” said Adams. “We also need people that can coach fulltime, this is what is happening in other countries.

“Sponsors, full-time coaching, more tournaments and getting the players together more often are the main things that need to be done to grow and improve the sport.”