Four of England’s rising talents were coached by some of the best players in the world at a recent training camp.

Denise Payet, Kate Cheer, James Smith and Shayan Siraj, along with Table Tennis England Talent Development Coach Hong Hong Peebles, attended the week-long camp in Luxembourg at the end of August.

The players were among 42 cadets from 13 countries to benefit from the guidance of coaches Martin Ostermann (Luxembourg ) and Eva Jeler (Germany) and multiple Olympic and World champions from China, Zhang Yining and Chen Qi.

Three training sessions took place every day, beginning with exercises from 7.30am and also including technical and tactical work, multi-ball and matchplay, with the English players able to play against opponents from all the different countries, including China sparring players.

On the last day, Payet performed well in a competition, finishing as the third-ranked player and winning an Olympic champion signature T-shirt.

ETTU Secretary General Richard Scruton also visited the camp.

Paul Stimpson
September 1, 2014