TABLE Tennis is a fun and competitive sport for all, says Fiji Table Tennis Association president Anthony Ho.
He made the comment on Thursday as FTTA hosted games and activities under its Smash Down Barriers Program to mark the International Day for People with Disabilities in Suva.
“Fiji Table Tennis has taken big strides in its efforts to be more inclusive with a focused and concerted effort to include more people with disabilities in the sport, either as players, umpires, administrators or development officers.” Ho said.
The four-hour program at the National Table Tennis Centre in Laucala Bay also included health checks, nutrition advice, table activities, aerobics and fun games. Josh Wakaniyasi of Fiji Spinal Injury Association and Ambalika Kutty of Vodafone were among the invited guests.
Ho said the Breaking Down Barriers Program aimed at enriching the lives of people with disabilities and children from low income communities.
“Coupled with a more permanent National Table Tennis Centre at the Fiji Sports Council Complex and the accreditation of local development officers as International Table Tennis Federation level one coaches that includes teaching table tennis to people with disabilities, saw an increase in people with other disabilities taking up the sport with some making a name for themselves at local and international competitions in less than a year,” he said.
Super grandma Mere Roden, Iokoba Taberanibou, Sainimili Naivalu, Aggie Latu, Francis Chung and John Tauni are some of Fiji’s disabled athletes to have done well in major competitions.
Roden, a class five wheelchair player, beat Australia’s top player in her first outing, 6 months after taking up table tennis. She won a gold medal in the 2015 Pacific Games. Taberanibou won a gold medal in the Pacific Games as well.
