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TableTennisUnited Fund supports young talent worldwide
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As people across the world struggle in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the TableTennisUnited Fund has ensured training opportunities around the world.

From Slovakia…

Before COVID-19, the Slovakia based Table Tennis club MSK STO Krompachy had opened its door to over 50 children that loved the sport. To promote the health and social benefits of Table Tennis, MSK STO Krompachy was offering free training sessions to those that just wanted to play for fun, as well as the young talents with big dreams. However, free sessions were no longer possible once the lockdown began.

“We’ve had no income. Our trainings have been inconsistent with COVID-19 restrictions, and we struggled to pay our coaches. We’d have liked to keep the free sessions, but knew it wouldn’t be possible without financial support.”  - Paulo Leandora Guassardo, MSK STO Krompachy.

We cannot testify to the existence of genies, but TableTennisUnited Fund will always come to call. Few months later now, we are happy to have heard that the children are now enjoying their training sessions again, dreaming of representing their country in the future Olympics.

…to India

In India, world number five junior player Swastika Ghosh was struggling to continue with training, and even maintaining the daily nutrition needs as an athlete seemed impossible.

Her father Sandeep, who is also her coach-cum-training partner, had been without a job for nine months when the player had decided to reach out to us. Sandeep was a Table Tennis coach at the DAV Public School at Nerul, but since the lockdown, he has been forced into the “no work, no pay” scheme and had to dig into his savings to make ends meet.

“We simply couldn’t afford Swastika’s training anymore. I did everything within my power but at one point I had almost no money in my account. There was no way I could fund her training expense and we were considering leaving Mumbai.” – Sandeep, father and the coach-cum-training partner of Ghosh.

Unfortunately, Ghosh’s situation was not an isolated one. The TableTennisUnited Fund has been receiving applications from players worldwide, all suffering from similar financial side-effects from the pandemic. We are happy to report that Ghosh is now able to resume her training and continues her journey towards becoming the next big name in India’s Table Tennis world.

Moving forward

It has been a little over a year since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing we have learned is that despite all the inequity around the world, the virus does not discriminate. While some of us are better equipped in this battle, it is also our responsibility to support those with empty magazines.

Thanks to our donors and the ITTF Group, the TableTennisuUnited Fund continues to support the Table Tennis community through one of the toughest times for mankind.

Read about how the TableTennis United Fund made training possible for future Paralympic athletes in Argentina and Germany