26 May 2025
Aspire Academy recently organised its second highly successful table tennis training camp for 48 players from 14 Asian nations.
The event from 14-19 May was the second phase of the Asian Table Tennis Union’s (ATTU) Shaping Future Stars programme, following a similar camp in December at Aspire Academy.
Several players, including Ahmed Korani, an Aspire Academy student-athlete, took advantage of the sessions to prepare for the World Table Tennis Championships being hosted in Doha.
The gathering, featuring both male and female players, is part of the ongoing Memorandum of Understanding between the ATTU and Aspire Academy, signed last October.
The Qatar Table Tennis Federation, which works closely with Aspire Academy to develop young talent, also nominated several players to join the Academy’s student-athletes for the training camp.
In addition to Qatar, the other nations to send players to the development event were Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Tunisia, the UAE, and Uzbekistan.
The six-day event featured a total of nine training sessions at Aspire Academy, which not only helped players work on the technical aspects of the sport but also provided ideas on movement, as well as strength and conditioning.
Aspire Academy’s Head Table Tennis Coach Peter Karlsson, himself a five-time world champion, was keen to point out that such events benefit everyone involved.
“Our young players can practice with players from 10 to 15 different countries; they get to face new aspiring partners every day,” he explained.
We also have players and coaches returning home to their countries, speaking positively about Aspire, so they are potential brand ambassadors for the organisation.”
“This is a platform for players and coaches to meet, discuss table tennis, and discuss training, so I also learn a lot.”
Igor Mikhailov, a Russian coach with the Bahrain players, echoed those sentiments.
“My players and I personally, as a coach, will benefit from playing with the different styles of players and different ages of players.”
“I must say that I have participated in many camps, and although we have very good facilities in Bahrain, I must say that I'm really thrilled with your facilities here in Aspire.”
“All the players are enjoying the very best conditions for practising and developing. I'm thrilled with the cooperation between coaches here.”
Aspire Academy student-athlete Ahmed Korani is confident that he will learn a great deal from the training camp.
“It's a very good opportunity to improve and develop by experiencing a lot of different styles,” he said.
“This camp was particularly useful as it was preparation for my first ever World Championships, simply getting the chance to play at the level was truly amazing.”
“It’s not just about table tennis; it's also about meeting new people from different cultures and learning about them, as well as how they play the game.”
Janelle Chiang from Singapore was in no doubt about how the camp at Aspire Academy had helped her.
“The coaches have been really helpful and have helped me develop and adjust my technique as well as a few different tactics for matches.
“Aspire Academy has been brilliant, the facilities are great, especially the number of tables in one place for us to train and learn how to play against others in the future.”
Aspire Academy, the ATTU, and the QTTA are already discussing plans for the next training camp as their mission to develop table tennis throughout Asia continues.