Athletes train for the Olympic qualifiers at Table Tennis Canada’s house on Louisa Street.
For most Canadians, ping-pong is not much more than a game casually played in a basement at a party. But for four athletes training in Centretown, table tennis has become a full-time job.
The best table tennis players from across the country train every day in a small office building gym on Louisa Street at the National Table Tennis Training Centre.
These days, the competition has been amped up as four male athletes are locked in rigorous training for the next six weeks as they prepare for the North American Table Tennis Olympic Trials in North Carolina on April 20-22.
The top three finishers will earn a berth in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“It’s really competitive. It’s full time table tennis right now,” says Olympic hopeful Andre Ho, a 19-year-old who gave up university to train six days a week in preparation for the Olympics.
Players call the training centre a necessary step in improving the quality and popularity of table tennis in Canada. Players from across the country can receive partial government funding to live in Ottawa and train at the gym.
Canada did not have a place to train fulltime before the last Olympic qualifiers. Head coach Duan Yongjun says this made it hard for athletes to improve.
“We had to play in schools or community centres. We had strange schedules and sometimes didn’t have access to facilities,” he says.”
But now, in preparation for the trials, table tennis players have 24-hour access to a gym with about 10 tables and about a dozen fitness machines.
They practice two times a day during the week, and hold one practice each weekend.
Yongjun says the biggest benefit is players being able to work out strategy by playing against each other.
“There are a lot of different tactics – spins, serves, hits – so many things to work out. We have more time to work them out here and more people to practice with,” he says.
One player, Eugene Wang, narrowly lost to the top-ranked player in the world this season and a player on the women’s side has already secured berths for Canada in the Olympics. Three other women will compete for a couple more Olympic spots at the North American Trials as well.
The centre has already helped improve the quality of the sport for Canadians in its short existence.
“(The centre) helps you work on the mental game,” says Wang, the top-ranked North American player.
Yongjun says the training centre will be a proven success if Canada makes a statement by training hard and grabbing all three of the North American Olympic spots.
“The sport is definitely improving,” he says. “I hope our work makes Canadian table tennis well known in the world.”