On September 18, 2019, the opening ceremony of 2019 Training Course on Table Tennis Latvia, organized by Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College (SFTC), was held at the China Cultural Exchange Center in Riga, the Republic of Latvia. Liang Jianquan, Chinese Ambassador to Latvia, Zhou Houcai, vice president of SFTC delivered their speeches, and other officials and more than 100 trainees and representatives from both Latvia and China were present at the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Shen Xiaokai, Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy to Latvia.
The opening ceremony was the first bilateral event attended by Ambassador Liang Jianquan. “Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in China, with about 83 million enthusiasts in the country. China’s national table tennis team has got excellent achievements in international competitions and have won a total of 115 world champions as of May 2019. It is hoped that this training will further promote the exchange of sports culture between China and Latvia, strengthen the friendship between the two countries, and improve the skills of Latvian table tennis players for better results in future competitions”, said the Ambassador in his speech.
Zhou Houcai briefed on SFTC's achievements in organizing the ChinaAid training programs and introduced the coaches of the training course. He said: “Outstanding coaches have been selected for this training course, including Dong Xi, the first coach of world No. 1 table tennis player Chen Meng, Yu Longfei, a former member of China’s national table tennis team, Wang Daqi and Xue Liang, two professional players who have been playing in the clubs of many European countries like the UK, Italy, Belgium, Wang Yali, head coach of the Table Tennis Team of Qingdao University, and Yu Yanwen, head coach of the Table Tennis Team of SFTC. The professional teaching methods and rich game experiences of the coaching team would ensure the quality of this training course. It is hoped that the participants shall practice hard and communicate more with the coaches to contribute to the improvement of Latvian table tennis.”
Divided into professional group and non-professional group, this training course will last 90 days from September 18 to December 16, including lectures, on-site teaching, practice, and seminars. Through this training, the participants are expected to learn more about contemporary table tennis skills and tactics, enhancing teamwork awareness and team spirit, and improving their level of competition and increase competition experience. Also, the training will build a communication platform between the participants and table tennis clubs in China, and enhance understanding and friendship between the two countries. The Riga branch of Xinhua News Agency reported the opening ceremony.
