by Olalekan Okusan, ITTF-African Press Officer

Unquestionably, the 43 year old Computer Science teacher has a passion for table tennis, he plays a crucial role in most table tennis tournaments staged in the North African nation.

“I actually started playing table tennis at 15 and I became the manager of my club in Lamta, which is 15 kilometres from Monastir. I am also a qualified Level One coach and I have been Competition Manager in Tunisia since 2016. When I was living in France, I used to play table tennis, when I returned to Tunisia, I noticed that my uncles also loved the game, so I joined them in the Lamta Club.” Nizar Sandid

Despite not making it to the Tunisian national team, Nizar Sandid is dedicated to table tennis and has the full support of Lofti Guerfel, the President of Tunisia Table Tennis Federation.

“When the President of Tunisia Table Tennis Federation introduced the idea of Competition Manager, I was encouraged; this made me to go for training. I became the first Competition Manager in Tunisia for table tennis. Also as a computer teacher, doing the work of a Competition Manager was a bit easy because I could manipulate the computer to perform special task.” Nizar Sandid

Now, he is in charge of most national competitions in Tunisia but he still plays table tennis and thoroughly enjoys playing.

“I set up a table tennis club in my school where I encourage students to play the sport; we practise every Friday for two hours. I basically teach them the rudiments of the sport and I also organize competitions among them. Table tennis is my passion and despite my tight schedule I still find time to play.” Nazir Sandid

The 2018 Tunisia Junior and Cadet Open concluded on Friday 23rd March; it will be followed by the two day Road to Buenos Aires – Africa Youth Olympic Games Qualification Tournament.