by Ian Marshall, Editor

Proceedings were organized by Dr Shiro Matsuo, the member of the ITTF Sports Science and Medical Committee, responsible for anti-doping.

“We planned these lectures to educate these young athletes about two important topics that will benefit them in their future athletic careers.” Dr Shiro Matsuo

The Sports Nutrition lecture was held on Tuesday 23rd October; Michiyo Kimura, a member of the Sports Science and Medicine Committee of the Japanese Table Tennis Association delivered the talk. She focused on why nutrition is important for athletes, nutritional strategies for table tennis players and implementing the best diets for top athletes

Following the lectures, the players participated in group discussions, each group being assigned a specific subject.

Later on Wednesday 24th October, Dr. Shiro Matsuo, addressed the players, the lecture being in co-operation with the Japan Anti-Doping Agency. He addressed the subject of the value of sport and purpose of anti-doping, in addition to rules regarding anti-doping, the benefits of sport and how they can be preserved. Also, he stressed the need for high integrity, the message being truth.

“Kenji Takarabe from Japan Anti-Doping Agency conducted an interactive lecture. He asked some questions to players and provided them with the knowledge about anti-doping in each of the answers. At the end of the lecture, he asked each player for their message about preserving the value of sport. They thought about it and filled out their message paper. Their messages were posted up on the board of the entrance hall of the venue.” Dr. Shiro Matsuo

Unanimously, the efforts made were most well received; a valuable experience.