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"Table Tennis at its best" - Emilia Cabrera's journey to Japan
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Tokyo, August 2016 - For the second year in a row, Canadian National Junior Team Athlete Emilia Cabrera is finding herself in Japan to prepare for the new Table Tennis Season. Her family lives in Japan and that is how she managed to find a club in Tokyo to practice the sport she loves.
Her Japanese journey started with a one week training camp in the city of Gifu, southwest of Japan. After that she moved to Tokyo to train up to 12 hours per day. “8 hours of training is little training here” Emilia says with a smile on her face. “The players here do not really take days off. They practice every day. Since I came here, they got one day. I try and practice every day as well, absorbing as much information as possible.”
Emilia made a lot of friends. This year there are a few new players at the club, including one girl from Germany and another one from Finland. “Everyone is very respectful here.” The biggest difference between the training sessions in Québec and here are technicals, control and the placement of the ball.
“My goal for 2017 is to participate in the Pan Am Junior Championships” says Emilia and she shares that with a little anecdote. "A few days ago there was a tournament. There was a total of 537 players that are all 14 years and younger. The tournament took place from 9am to 4pm. The gold medal winner went to train at the club after the tournament from 6 till 10pm the same day."
“Table Tennis at its best is how I would describe my days, my weeks here in Tokyo with one sentence and I am looking forward to coming back to Canada!"
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