Vadodara table tennis body wants Korean coach

VADODARA: The Table Tennis Association of Baroda (TTAB) wants a Korean coach to impart coaching to the Gujarat paddlers at its indoor stadium in the city.

TTAB has sent a request to the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) in this regard.

Talking to PTI on sidelines of Inorbit Baroda District Table Tennis Championship which began today, Kalpesh Thakkar Honorary Secretary of TTAB, said "the TTFI has hired two North Korean coaches - An Jong Son and Kim Song Han - to help its state units conduct training sessions for junior paddlers during the summer vacations.

"The hiring of foreign coaches, part of TTFI's annual developmental programme that began several years ago, has been a great hit with young players who have benefited from their training methods," he said.

As per the feedback from the states, these coaches provided a lot of inputs to local coaches besides training the state players, said Thakkar.

An Son coached the North Korean national team in 2011 and 2012. As for Kim, he has coached the state university team before being appointed the chief coach of India's youth team from 2009 to 2012.

Keeping in view the rich experience the duo has brought to the country, TTFI should depute a Korean coach at TTAB stadium too, Thakkar said.