A young table tennis player with Table Tennis Canada is headed to the Canada Winter Games later this month.
Xuebo Li, a member of the Junior 18 boys squad, will be headed to the games, which take place in Prince George, B.C.
Maxime Surprenant, part-time manager of the national team, describes Xuebo Li as a very hardworking, disciplined player.
Li came to Canada from China with his parents when he was 12 or 13, according to Surprenant.
“Table Tennis is a lot of discipline in China. The structure is very good. He came to Canada with this structure, so he has a good work ethic, and he’s a very smart player, yeah,” says Surprenant.
Surprenant says Li is not a superstitious athlete.
“I think he believes that the harder he works, the best result he’s gonna get,” Surprenant says.
“He’s gonna play the way he has to but when there’s something coming like a big tournament, or a big event, you see right away that he gives this extra work because he knows that if he works hard then he’s going to get better faster,” Surprenant adds.
Tony Kiesenhofer, the CEO of Table Tennis Canada, says that Li has a good technical skills, acquired in China.
“An all around very good, very well-trained player,” Kiesenhofer says.
When it comes to winning the competition, Surprenant says Li needs to stay focused and believe in himself.
Kiesenhofer adds that it’s a question of confidence.
“He sometimes loses confidence during a game,” Kiesenhofer says.
“They know each and they have been practicing together but also competing against each other a lot,” Kiesenhofer adds. “He’s definitely one of the favourites to win.”
The Canada Winter Games take place from Feb. 13 to March 1. The table tennis competition runs from Feb. 23-28.