by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Locally matters were organised by Cédric Rouleau, the Technical Director of the Mauritius Table Tennis Association, one of the major goals being to prepare the host nation for the immediately ensuing competition.
During the Training Camp, two sessions were staged each day, the first from 9.00 to 12.00 noon, the second from 2.00pm to 5.00pm; in general excellent conditions, the only problem being the temperature was a constant 30 degrees Celsius in the hall.
Overall a total of 40 players attended the Training Camp with Laurie Phaï Pang being assisted by French coaches Eric Angles and Christine Loyrion; in particular the focus was directed towards the six men and six women who would represent Mauritius at the 2017 East Africa Championships.
Notably, in addition, three French players in the guise of Mathieu Carpena, Yohan Gimenez and Arnaud Combesque travelled to Beau Basin to fulfil the role of practice partners.
“We worked a lot on basics, warm up, service, technical, physical training and also tactics. The Mauritius players are young but have great potential. One of the objectives is to be competitive for the next Indian Ocean Islands Games in 2019 in Mauritius. We believe that this development programme will help them to achieve this goal!” Laurie Phai Pang.
A successful visit and also Laurie Phaï Pang met Stephan Toussaint, the Minister of Sport, most pertinently later he attended the 2017 East Africa Championships.
