TWO Cebuano paddlers from the University of Cebu (UC) will be making few adjustments as they prepare for the World University Games on July 3-14, 2015 in Gwangju City, South Korea.
The two, Val Stephen Jaca and Daniel Jay Tormis, represent the PHL men’s table tennis team and started training this week using new table tennis equipment.
“In the international tournament like during the Southeast Asian Games (SEAGames), they are using a new paddle and a bigger ball,” said UC table tennis head coach Jiji Honoridez.
Honoridez said that in the previous tournaments they used a celluloid ball, which has a measurement of 40mm. This time, they are expecting that they will be using a Polyball, which is more than 40mm and made of plastic.
“Skills-wise, they are already prepared because they have been training all year round. We just have to adjust to the new equipment that will be used in the international competition,” said Honoridez.
The World University Games will also be expecting the presence of junior Olympians.
However, Honoridez said they are not threatened but would treat the games as an advantage if they get a chance to play against seasoned players so they could gauge the competitiveness of her players.
“Ang ako lang ang mga bata maka-experience with this level of competition. I always tell them to do their best and we are also honored we were given the chance to represent the country again in this prestigious tournament,” said Honoridez.