by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

He was present from Tuesday 2nd to Wednesday 10th January at a training camp which comprised a group of 12 German boys in the hopes and cadet age groups, his visit being organised by Polona Cehovin Susin, High Performance and Development Director, alongside Dejan Papic, Head of Education.

“It was a pleasure for me to join this most useful camp, it was value added which I really appreciated, it was a well-organized programme. I benefited from every single minute. My deepest thanks go to Polona Cehovin and Dejan Papic for giving me this opportunity to assess my skills and knowledge as a coach.” Hisham Ismail

It is for Hisham Ismail, his third year as a coach in the Hopes age group; most certainly he has a thirst for knowledge.

“The camp started every day at 8:00 am with a 20 minute warm up session. The first session was from 9:30am to 12:00pm; the second from 3:00pm to 6:00pm, the last from 7:30pm till 9:00pm. Physical training was about one hour on a daily basis.” Hisham Ismail

Assisting Eva Jeler throughout was Christian Süss, former winner of both the Cadet Boys’ Singles and Junior Boys’ Singles titles at the European Youth Championships, as well as being vital to Germany’s bronze medal at the Liebherr 2006 World Championships. He was present to give Hisham Ismail advice alongside Austria Peter Gardos, as well as German coaches Jens Ruland and Dana Weber.

“My grateful thanks to Eva Jeler the head coach and to the German Table Tennis Association, thank you for supporting me and giving me a chance to be a part of this family.” Hisham Ismail

A detailed itinerary in Heidelberg, in addition Hisham Ismail attended a regional training camp in Frankfurt under the direction of Tobias Kirch.