NEW DOUBLE table tennis champion Mark Dowell wants more local competitions to help boost playing standards.
Dowell won the singles event for players rated 2000 and above and the Premier League, both with victories over Aaron Barker, when the National Championships ended last weekend.
“I wasn’t looking for it to be so easy,” he told NATIONSPORT. “I was expecting a much more difficult challenge from Aaron because he is playing the best tennis of his life right now. But due to the fact that he is hurt it didn’t allow him to give his usual high standard of play.”
Like Barker, who has a knee injury, Dowell went into the finals carrying an injury – to the left shoulder – but it proved not to be a major handicap.
“It was hurting a bit but not to the point where I wasn’t in control,” he explained.
“I am going to work on my fitness and look to take my game to another level.”
Dowell, who has been representing Barbados for a decade, is keen to see more tournaments on the table tennis calendar. He reflected on the time when there were tournaments at the end of every month during the out-of-season period.
“We need more tournaments that are completed in one day rather than being drawn out over several weeks,” Dowell said, citing the Professor Moseley Top 16 tournament held earlier this year as a good example.
He said financial incentives should be available so as to encourage more participation.
