US OPEN TENNIS

One critic (a reporter) even claimed he would have been proud of the achievement if the female paddlers were born in Singapore. I think these critics fail to realise that the success was not achieved instantaneously. It took many years before Singapore finally reaped the fruits of success by clinching an Olympic Silver medal. (Jing Jun Hong came in 4th at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Li Jiawei came in 4th at the Athens Olympics in 2004) The right infrastructure had to be put in place by Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA). Over the years, To achieve the success in Beijing, STTA sent the Table Tennis team to Japan for intensive training as well as numerous overseas competitions to gain ranking points as well as valuable playing experience. In short, STTA left no stone unturned to ensure the team was well-prepared. (Despite having these players, STTA continues to focus on developing young talented Singapore players. One just need to visit www.stta.org.sg to know more about the var …

The ball is hit back and forth with a small paddle shaped racket or bat by the players till one of them misses. The composition and structure of the bat determines a great deal the outcome of a game. Paddles with differing qualities have been invented for players with different playing styles. You have to find out your strong and weak points with regard to the game before going out to buy one. The racket you are using should suit your playing style. Paddles come in different shapes but oval shape is the most common and preferred. Wood is the most commonly used material for manufacturing these paddles. The face of the bat is made with rubber or sponge which is either smooth or pimpled in texture. As per the guidelines of the International Table Tennis Association, the maximum thickness of this coating should not exceed four millimeters on any part of the racket. Different kinds of paddles offer different levels of friction and playing properties. The color, structure, smoothness of sur …