Qatar tribune Tribune News Network Doha The Aspire Academy in Qatar has hosted a highly successful table tennis training camp, which included players from Sweden, India, and Croatia. They were joined by four Aspire Academy student-athletes and two players nominated by the Qatar Table Tennis Federation. The ten-day camp was led by Aspire’s head table tennis coach Peter Karlsson, who was assisted by senior coach Jakov Krivic.
Along with the young players, there were also visiting coaches from India and Croatia. Their visit was not limited to table tennis but included sightseeing and a trip to the desert to highlight and promote all that Qatar has to offer. Josip Jerkovic, part of Croatia’s national team coaching staff, was overseeing the progress of two 17-year-olds from the junior ranks.
He highlighted that the training offered the chance to work on things such as leg strength and improving mobility, and it was not purely about the technical side of the game. He was impressed by the facilities and the support staff, such as strength and conditioning experts and equipment staff, who worked with the main coaches. The coach was delighted that his two youngsters were getting the opportunity to play against and train with a variety of opponents.
“So, most of the time, they only get to play against each other – there are limited opportunities for them to spar against other players,” he explained. “For us, it’s very, very important to come to camps like this and travel .