Olympic Games | 6 Jul 2024

Poland, Sweden, Slovenia, and the Hosts Training in Croatia

Seventeen-year-old Milosz REDZIMSKI of Poland will make his Olympic debut this summer in Paris. He is currently conducting his final preparations for the event in Croatia.

"Team Poland is here working with the hosts, players from Sweden, Slovenia, Austria… We have a very nice group, so it's a pleasure to practice with them. We go back home on July 7, and on the 12th, we go to Saarbrucken with Maciek KUBIK for a 7-day camp. They have Olympic tables, so we can get used to them," said REDZIMSKI.

Since it will be his first experience at the Olympics, Milosz said, "I don’t set any goals for myself; I just want to play as best as I can and then I’m sure I can go far."

From July 1, Croatia, specifically Vrsar, is the center of European table tennis. In this village on the western coast of Istria, the Croatian table tennis team has begun their preparations for Paris. On the roster of coach Neven KARKOVIĆ are Tomislav PUCAR, Andrej GAĆINA, Filip ZELJKO, Frane KOJIĆ, and Ivor BAN.

In Vrsar, alongside Croatia’s team, the Poles, Swedes, Slovenians, two Belgians (ALLEGRO and RASSENFOSSE), and an Austrian (HABESOHN) are also training. Out of the 16 teams in the Olympic team event, seven are from Europe, and three of them are in Vrsar.

"The initial plan was for only the Poles, Slovenians, and us to be in Vrsar, but as word quickly spread, we received many inquiries from other teams. In the end, there will be about twenty of us in Vrsar, which is the maximum we can accommodate due to the hall's capacity and the organization of the preparations. Realistically, this number is more than enough for optimal training. Unfortunately, we had to decline some players and teams. We will have a variety of players available, and some preparatory matches will be played," emphasized coach Neven KARKOVIĆ.

After that, Team Croatia returns to Zagreb, and then they fly to Sweden to train with one of the strongest European teams.

"They invited us, and we will be their guests from July 14 to 19. After that, we return to Zagreb, where Slovak WANG Yang might join us, and soon after that, we fly to Paris," he concluded.