by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor (Interview: Frantisek Zalewsky)

She has been kept thoroughly occupied in a tournament that has attracted 117 men and 35 women; no less than 17 events being staged in the individual competitions, six for women and the full gambit of 11 for men.

“It’s the third time I’ve been to Ostrava, I have been a player since I was a child and I am still a player. Recently I have been coaching and classifying.

It can be quite hard work being a classifier; also from one tournament to another it can be very different. In some events when we have many players and very little time it can be very hard work and very stressful but it is a good work because there are many differences to consider.

First, we need to complete examinations of the players, we do it one by one and we need to do it properly; then we need to watch them play. Next is the administration work. There are many different parts to the job. The nicest part of this work is that we meet lot of people.

Here in Ostrava, it is very nice. People are really friendly. There is a positive atmosphere and also there are no problems if something needs solving. People always have a smile; they say they will solve a problem; then they do, it is solved. I really like it here. I feel very welcome.

It is great to meet everyone, classifiers, coaches and organisers. It is just a great atmosphere and a great feeling.” Lisa Lundell

The individual events having been completed on Friday 8th September; attention for Lisa Lundell now turns to the team events; for the women there are two such competitions, for the men it is seven in number.