National table tennis champion Tyrese Knight faces a Herculean task but remains hopeful of doing well at the World Singles Qualification Tournament this Sunday, March 14, at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha, Qatar.
Knight is hoping to secure one of the nine places up for grabs in the tournament to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. But he will have to wait a few days more to find out who his opponent will be as the draw has not yet been made.
“It is a real uphill task but we have prepared well. He is feeling confident, optimistic and knowing him he is going to give one hundred percent,” Knight’s manager Sherdon Pierre told Barbados TODAY.
“It is a straight knockout and the loser goes home. So, it will be a battle from the first shot, the first point. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic there weren’t many Olympic qualifiers worldwide.
“So, basically this is a hub where anyone can come here and qualify. That is why it’s called the World Olympic qualifiers. So, we see some of the top 20, top 30, 50 players here vying for those eight positions,” Pierre said.
According to the manager, Knight is showing that he can match up against some of the world’s best.
“He is matching up with some of the best players in the world. He is training on being a defensive player. He was able to spar with some of the top players thus far. He has trained with three players that qualified for the Olympics already in the North American region, African region, European region.
“So he has been training with the top players in the world and I am seeing the improvements in his forehand and his defensive game. He is a lot more confident in his shots and his ability,” Pierre said.
He revealed that Knight had some soreness about his body in the days of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) high-performance camp still ongoing in Qatar. However, he is happy with Knight’s execution so far in training leading up to the qualifiers.
“During the early days of the camp, Knight had some soreness about his body because it has been almost one year that he hasn’t trained for seven hours a day. So, we have three and a half sessions in the morning, three and a half sessions in the evening.
“It is quite taxing on the body but he has adjusted well and is doing fine. I’m encouraged and pleased with what he has been doing thus far in the camp,” Pierre said.
He added: “Every night we look back at video recorded during the sessions. We look back at things he can improve on. We look at different sets, different tactics he can use during the matches. And we take note of what we want to improve on the next day.
“We have our list and we tick our list after every session. So, we have a few more things that we can work on in the last few days of the remaining camp. Once we do that, we will be ready for the challenge.”
The 21-year-old Barbadian said training was going good and he was ready for the task.
“Currently training is going quite good. I’m improving every day for sure. I’m playing with better players than me. So, the first few days were tough because I did not get to practise much when I was home. But now I am getting better and better every day.
“It is going to be tough because we still have players in the top 50 who still haven’t qualified. So, there are great players in this tournament and from the beginning, it is the knockout stage. So, once you lose the first match you’re gone. So, it is going to be tough,” Knight explained.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
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