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Touchline issue 23 | April 2016 | 13
Success on the international stage and supporting our athletes
to be good role models and ambassadors is a key part of
increasing our appeal – viewers relate to athletes’ journeys and
back-stories and are inspired by watching English victories.
How do the top English table tennis players currently
compare to the best countries in the World? Who are the
leading countries and players?
The answer to this question has just changed considerably!
At the World Team Championships which have just finished
in Kuala Lumpur, England’s team of Liam Pitchford, Paul
Drinkhall and Sam Walker won the bronze medal in the men’s
competition. This was the first time we had been on the podium
since 1983 and the first time that a newly-promoted team had
won a medal. We won that promotion at the previous Worlds
two years earlier and were competing in the top division for the
first time since 1997 – and we were seeded 18th.
Our target was to make sure we remained in the division but the
boys played brilliantly to beat Germany in the group stage and
gathered momentum from there. Beating France in the quarter-
finals made us the last remaining European nation in the event
and even though we lost 3-1 to Japan in the semi-final, it was
a close match and we had our chances. Both the losing semi-
finalists get bronze, so we were delighted to be on the podium.
Getting back to the top of the world is our plan – but we have
made quicker progress than we envisaged and that is huge
credit to the players, who really seized their opportunities.
The event was won by China and they remain the best in the
world by some distance. They currently have the top four men
in the world rankings and the top three women. The game
is something of a national obsession in China and there is a
conveyor belt of world-class talent – as evidenced by the fact
that since table tennis joined the Olympics in 1988, China has
won all but four of the total gold medals on offer. The current
world champions are both Chinese - Ma Long in the men’s game
and Ding Ning in the women’s.
Other far eastern countries including Japan, Korea and
Singapore, are also strong.
In European terms, the leading nation is now us, I guess! Joking
apart, we have a long way to go to match the consistency of
Germany, Portugal, France and Sweden, who are all strong, with
players near the top of the world rankings and a long history of
achievement.
In the women’s game, Germany are the strongest, while
Romania, Russia and Ukraine consistently compete to a high
level. Romania has the current continental champion, Elizabeta
Samara.
Our women are currently ranked 33rd in the world after the
latest World Championships, with only one player inside the top
200.
What are your targets for the Rio Olympic games?
The first target is to qualify. Paul and Liam will have a chance to
earn qualification for the men’s singles by right at the European
qualifying tournament in Istanbul in April. If they don’t do so,
their world rankings are high enough that they should make it,
though this will depend on the position of individuals from other
countries in the list.
The ranking points they picked up at the World Championships
will certainly help – Liam rose from 64 to No 44 in the world
and Paul rose from 72 to 64. With only two players per country
allowed in the singles, two of the top four in the world will miss
out simply because they are Chinese. This does, however, open
up the field to other nations, so getting as high up the list as
possible is important. Paul and Liam will also play a number
of World Tour events – as they do every year – in order to earn
ranking points.
Sam was the really big winner, moving up from No 159 to No
118. There is a chance that, depending on the rank of our third
player on the rankings list, we can qualify for the men’s team
event as well, so this big move up the pecking order bodes well
for Sam. Again, it will all depend on how players from other
nations perform.
Unfortunately, none of our women are currently at a level where
they can qualify.
After London 2012, we were one of a number of sports to
lose the elite funding which we were awarded for the host
nation games. This was expected as our sport could not deliver
podium potential. However, as things stand we could qualify
for Rio without having had that elite funding, which would be a
tremendous achievement – we now have to do everything we
can to make sure we help the players to deliver this.
What are you doing to improve performance of English
players on the world stage?
Working with our own resources and with our funding partners
at Sport England, we have invested and continue to invest in
a ‘player pathway’ which the best young prospects can follow.
This includes extending our nationwide network of Talent
Development Centres from four to seven, with more due to
come on-stream. Here, the best young players can access top-
quality coaching on a regular basis to ensure their talent is given
the best chance to develop. We have also created an England
Youth Squad in the last two seasons, where the best of the best
meet up monthly to work with our national talent coaches and
with each other. We arrange for top-quality practice partners
and coaches from other countries – plus our adult elite athletes
– to visit on occasion.
I mentioned coaching – we are also taking steps to ensure there
is a more defined pathway for coaches to follow to extend
their skills, creating more and better coaching courses and
opportunities for them to network with each other and with
leading coaches from other nations and other sports. Driving up
the standard of coaching is a key part of our talent development
strategy.
We have also formed sports science partnerships, most notably
with Sheffield Hallam University, which gives our elite athletes
access to physiotherapy, nutrition and psychological input.
And we are building links with clubs and coaches overseas.