Our Olympic dream

SMASH hit . . . that’s junior player Alex Riley

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Table tennis talent keeping an eye on the ball for 2012
NOT one of the 300 British athletes gearing up for this summer’s Beijing Olympics will be bidding for glory at table tennis.

Team GB has failed to qualify for the singles and team events — but it could be a different story at London 2012 with Oldham Table Tennis Club boasting a trio of hopefuls.

Teenagers Josh Boult (13), Rebekah Griffith (15) and 16-year-old Reena Ardeshana are all being touted for possible success.

Ranked among England’s top young players, they have already represented their country.

Head club coach Dave Griffith, Rebekah’s father, is upbeat about their Olympic chances.

“They could be at the Olympics in 2012. If they really want it they can go for it — I think they definitely will,” he said.

Dave fell in love with table tennis at 16 in his native Barbados.

“I used to play a game called road tennis in Barbados. It is just a box with a line across it. When I came over to England it picked up from there. It is a passion,” said the Oldham Vets’ champ, who started the club in 2004. “We started it up because in Glodwick, the table tennis league wasn’t reflecting the community — we didn’t have any Asians or West Indians.

“We wanted to get more of these guys playing so we started and progressed from there.”

It is very much a family club — Dave’s daughter Abigail (8) is another who is making a name for herself in the sport.

He added: “I don’t think table tennis is attractive to a lot of people because it is a minority sport. But at our club a lot of people are playing because we are family-oriented.

“The youngest player we have is seven and the oldest 58.

“We are putting a team in the national cadet league, junior league and we are waiting confirmation for a British women’s league team which will include two juniors.

“We were also the first club to have an all-girls team in the Oldham junior league. It is the first time it has ever happened and the league has been going for 76 years.”

l The club meets at Radclyffe Athletics Centre, Hunt Lane, Chadderton. Sessions are held on Friday and Tuesday nights. To get involved, call 0161-621 3320.