Talented teenagers, Aaron Wilson and Arun Roopnarine are in Markham, Ottawa, competing in the Scotiabank 2012 Canada Junior & Cadet Open table tennis tournament.
Trinidad and Tobago Table Tennis Association (T&TTTA) secretary, Bob Roopnarine explained that their participation is being facilitated by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), as part of the ITTF WFIM (With The Future in Mind) project.
"Aaron was selected for the ITTF Hopes programme initially some three years ago. He was moved into the ITTF WFIM project last year with confirmation from the TTOC (T&T Olympic Committee). For 2012, again with confirmation from the TTOC and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Olympic Solidarity in Lausanne, (Switzerland), Aaron was approved.
"The ITTF," the T&TTTA secretary continued, "has agreed to add Arun to the ITTF WFIM project and allocate the funding for a T&T Cadet Boys team composed of Arun and Aaron. Their logic is that the benefits of doing that rather than focusing only on one player is far better for T&T table tennis.
"The ITTF will provide accommodation and a waiver of tournament fees for selected events."
T&TTTA president, Reeza Burke, an ITTF Level 2 coach, travelled to Canada with Aaron and Arun.
"While there," said Roopnarine (Bob), "Reeza will hold discussions with Joe Fisher of Canada, who has been mandated by the ITTF to conduct a Referees and Umpires Course from November 1 to 8, 2012."
On September 24, two days before his 14th birthday, Wilson won the Tobago Open men's singles title, beating top-ranked Curtis Humphreys in the final.
And Roopnarine (Arun), who turned 15 on Monday, was part of the T&T team that struck gold in the men's team event at the Caribbean Championships, in Dominican Republic, in August.
-Kwame Laurence
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com