Table Tennis Legend Deng Closes Teaching Program in CubaForty paddlers from eight countries are to participate in a table tennis tournament in the Havana Sports City as the Chinese legend Deng Yaping wrapped up her teaching program Thursday in Havana.Players from Barbados, Canada, Colombia, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile and Cuba are ready to put what one of the most outstanding athletes the game has ever seen taught them in the week-long project into practice. The 27-year-old Deng arrived last Friday in Havana to sell the Asia-dominated game to the Latin American region as part of an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) project to promote table tennis world wide. ITTF's program, "Deng Yaping's Women's Table Tennis Development Plan," started last June in Tunis, with the participation of almost 20 players from North Africa and Middle East. Local specialists consider Cuba's players have a great potential to achieve outstanding positions at the regional and international levels. Cuba's table tennis players have a good physical preparation, though they need a technical refinement to improve their professional skills in major international events. Deng, currently a member of the Athlete Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), won four Olympic golds and nine world championship golds in an illustrious career spanning from 1989 to 1997. |
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