A Table Tennis Tournament of Youth at Work with the Sports Star Werner Schlager

A remarkable 110 athletes from 15 different youth workshops and day structures participated in early April of this year at a table tennis tournament in the modern „Werner Schlager Academy“ in Schwechat. 

The Academy was recently opened and impressed all with its professional training area of 30 tables, a modern fitness area, a players' lounge, a medical center, and conference rooms.  The tournament was played using several performance classes, over a two day period, with a special treat on the 6^th day of April as the Champions League match contested by SVS Niederösterreich against defending league champions Borussia Düsseldorf took place.  The tournament participants had the opportunity to watch some of the top players during training.

At the awards ceremony on 13^th of April, none other than the superstar Werner Schlager, the only player in the world to qualify each year from 1996 to 2007, since the introduction of the ITTF Pro Tour, in the tour's final tournament of the top 16 players in the world, was in attendance.  In an interview, he gave insights into the daily training of a top athlete and presented the medals to all participants as well as an autograph.  Of course, there were many photos taken and autographs given.  In the premier class of the tournament, the series winner was Johann Koller, from the workshop and day structure of Molkereistraße, who was among other athletes at the state championships in the Austrian Disabled Sports and will also compete at the World Championships in Italy for Austria

by Jugend am Werk