by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

It is for those attending a most intense itinerary; the five days include ten hours of theory followed by two days of practical work in classifying players, in addition to two days of observation that concludes with an examination.

Overall, there are six participants from a wide variety of backgrounds; the group includes doctors, coaches, a physiotherapist plus actual Para table tennis players.

Notably, the course members represent four South American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.  

“The participants have had the opportunity of experiencing all the classification processes, including physical examination in a classification situation, the basic table test, discussion with classifiers, completing paperwork, communicating the results to players and coaches and even working late due to high number of players to be classified”, Maria Tsipou, Technical Director, 2016 Copa Tango

Impressively 27 new players in the Under 23 years category have been classified for the tournament.

“Now, it’s time for the tournament to start and to watch players carefully either to confirm or correct the assigned class”, Maria Tsipou

In the Centro Nacional De Alto Rendimiento Deportivo (CeNARD), the venue for the tournament, the results will be important in more ways than one; the champions and the outcome of the classification will be realised.