by Simon Daish

The news of Takashima Satoshi’s arrival comes following coach Christian Lillieroos’s departure, and National coach Stephen Grant is confident that the incoming Satoshi can push Jamaican table tennis to new heights moving forward.

“The game has developed (locally),” said Grant before going on to add: “Table tennis has turned the corner, where we were four years ago compared to where we are now, it’s night and day, so we want to continue on the same trend.”

One of the best indicators for a country to gauge where its table tennis team is on the ability scale is the World Team Championships which is hosted every two years. David Grant has used the tournament as an example of Jamaica’s improvement on the international stage with the Men’s Team having won back-to-back promotions since 2014:

“We were in Division Five of the World Championships in 2014 (Men’s Team category) and we won that. Two years later (2016), we went into Division Four and won bronze, so now we are now in Division Three, so I am definitely for it (Takashima Satoshi’s appointment) because Japan is a new superpower in Table Tennis. They are rated second in the world, so this can boost our playing abilities from the Junior level up” – David Grant.

While the news of a new coach is exciting for David Grant, the National coach wanted to thank the former International coach Christian Lillieroos for his guidance, “We just sent off Mr Christian Lillieroos, who was here for six months so the techniques and the abilities of the coaches have advanced a great deal under his experience. I was with him for the last week and it was a great refresher for me.”

“With Mr Christian’s experience and application I have learnt a lot, and this new coach will only enhance what we have started and as National coach I am definitely for it in every shape or form”, David Grant.