by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
It was no less than the seventh such course to be initiated in India this year and, if we add Course Conductor Training and ITTF Level Two Coach Education led by Christian Lillieroos and Richard McAfee of the United States, the overall complement is ten in number.
A total of 12 students attended, travelling from throughout the region; the areas represented being West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The course conductor was Ashwin Kumar Padukon.
“Being my first ITTF Level One Course as a conductor, I was thrilled and excited; it gave me a lot of pleasure teaching such a dynamic group of people”. Ashwin Kumar Padukon
All responded to the efforts and encouragement of Ashwin Kumar Padukon. He organised a carefully detailed schedule commencing with introductory and theory seminars, progressing to practical sessions where the students were put through their paces.
“It was Mr Richard Mcafee’s words of encouragement and training in Indore during the course conductor training that helped me big time. Without the support of Mohan Kumar, the co-ordinator in India for the ITTF Developmental Programme this would not have been possible. I extend my warm regards and thanks to both Richard and Mohan”. Ashwin Kumar Padukon
A successful course and as with all such initiatives, the Para Table Tennis element proved most popular as did the competition where students had to compete using their non-playing hand.
“I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Table Tennis Federation of India, to Tenvic Sports and to Mr. Glenn Tepper, the ITTF Deputy Chief Executive, for providing myself and the rest of the course conductors with this platform to conduct courses. I would like to conclude by saying that this course has helped me gain confidence to do more and more courses in future, the new dimension of addressing a coach instead of a student is actually a lot more important and responsible task, which I’m very happy and comfortable doing.” Ashwin Kumar Padukone
An enthusiastic Course Conductor, clearly happy in the role of mentor.
“The process of teaching has always inspired me and continues to inspire me with more knowledge being shared, promoting table tennis the sport that we all love, to a new level; looking forward for more and more opportunities like this.” Ashwin Kumar Padukone
Additional to being an ITTF Level One Course Conductor, Ashwin Kumar Padukone is an ITTF Level Three Coach.
