The Malta Table Tennis Association organised The Eurokids Camp and Mini Champ Challenge Trophy recently.

This event, which is one of the main attarctions in the European Table Tennis Union’s calendar, was held successfully with the participation of 15 countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Holland, Italy, Spain, Luxemburg, Cyprus, Estonia, Turkey, Guernsey, Island of Man, Moldova, Israel, Azerbaijan and Malta.

“We gather players with different levels of knowledge and languages, but all of them were like one family-European Family. We had excellent conditions and 20 tables in the big hall that was available for training throughout whole day, “ said head coach Aleksey Yefremov.

First of the list of goals in Malta was to give the best preparation for all players, improve technical, tactical and physical aspects, give to players and coaches some new ideas of training, new exercises on the table and of physical preparation. Then all participants competed in the Malta Mini Champ Challenge Trophy which was organised in style by the Malta Table Tennis Associaiton’s organisation.

“The schedule was demanding; we used all the time for table tennis. The day in camp started at 7.15 with jogging, stretching and shadow exercises in the morning and finishing every day with individual practise at 9.30pm. There were three sessions per day at 9.30am-12.30pm where we practised on technique of strokes and movements. We worked on improvement of different aspects: power, speed, coordination…

In the afternoon sessions it was time for training with ball on eight tables, with two coaches, and four players on each table. Evening sessions were scheduled between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. That time was reserved for individual training. We worked on finalising the details of technique and tactical preparation, service and return. In the time of the rest for players all coaches had seminars that covered many interesting themes and brought interesting discussions” reported Aleksey Yefremov.

The work in camp included the video analysis of Top players and many discussions with coaches regarding the new tendencies of table tennis, changes in technique, systems of the training etc.

The MTTA is now hard at work to organise yet another important event, that is, the first Malta Juniors International Open which will see 18 countries participating with its best Cadets and Juniors. This international tournament, which forms part of the ITTF Junior Circuit will be held at the Cottonera Sports Complex between 8 and 15 March.