Table Tennis Profile: Darius Knight
Darius Knight is a British ITTF World Pro Tour player that has represented Great Britain in many events. He was born in London on February 22, 1990 and is the second best player in England as Paul Drinkhall dominates the first place.
Knight started playing the sport in 2000 and was only 11-years-old as Gideon Ashison took on the responsibilities as his first coach. Knight did not know much about the sport and needed a lot of guidance to reach the top level as his standard of play was
nothing more than a little above average. Gideon showed his interest in the young talent as he was looking at him with a different perspective.
Darius was lucky to have found the best coach in town as it was Ashison who developed the interest in the youngster and selected him amongst the group of players who trained every day uninterrupted. The only hurdle in their way was that they had only one
table which was not sufficient to serve the purpose. Before deciding to find a career in table tennis, Darius was a common boy who used to hang out on the streets of South London with his gang of 15 members.
Knight took a tough decision at an early age as he decided to devote himself and do something positive. He admits that his decision changed his life as he said, “Of the gang of 15 that I used to hang out with, only three of us have done something positive
with our lives. I was lucky because table tennis offered me a way out. If we could get more sporting opportunities for kids in places like that, it would give others a way out, too.”
The Times news paper published an article about Knight’s life as he soon became popular across the streets of London and turned out to be a role model for the youngsters across England. That helped him to catch the eye of National Team coaches and also in
attracting donations. Darius soon received the invitation from the National Training Centre in Nottingham and he had to leave London for his future.
The 21-year-old devoted more time to the sport as he started training harder and leaving London helped him concentrate more on the game. Darius won the National Under-21 Championships at the age of 16 and also secured the Under-18 Junior Title. He currently
uses the Timo Boll Spirit Flared Tenergy 05 bat and one of his biggest dreams is winning the gold medal at the London Olympics 2012. He said, “I don’t want any regrets saying I should have done something.”
Darius believes that table tennis in England has improved in the past few years as English players have won the European titles. He teamed up with Paul Drinkhall as the pair has managed to win a bronze and a gold medal at the ITTF World Junior Circuit in
2007.
Knight also admits that China’s dominance in the sport is because of the good system that they have and that is why they have been producing legendary players for the past few decades. Knight will be representing Great Britain in the coming London Olympics
in 2012 and is hoping to gain full advantage in front of the home audience. It will be interesting to see how he performs in his home town as he will be the real local hero at the international arena in London.
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