Interview of Tahl Leibovitz (USA) made in June 2008 by e-mail.

When and how did you discover table tennis?

I discovered table tennis when I was 14 years old. I entered the South Queens Boys and Girls Club. It is a center in Queens, New York where at risk youth meet and participate in activities.

I saw some kids playing table tennis with wooden rackets and I enjoyed the sound of the ball. I competed in able bodied table tennis for many years and then through a friend discovered Paralympic Table Tennis.

Do you practice other sports?

The only other sport I took a liking to was long distance. I enjoyed running but, as my condition deteriorated I found I would be unable to compete at a high level so I stopped. I still jog every other day short distances to keep in shape.

What are your best memories in TT? And optionally the worst ones?

I have quite a few good memories for table tennis. Most of them have to do with big matches. The first time I won the New York State Championships it was a very good moment for me. Winning a Bronze Medal in the Maccabiah Games and also winning Gold and Bronze at the Paralympic Games were great moments as well. One of the best moments for me was when my coach and I made the 2004 US Olympic Qualifying Team for Men’s Doubles. The other great moment for me was this year when I won the Collegiate National Championships.

I also have a few bad moments in table tennis. I wasn’t very happy when I lost in the Bronze Medal match at the 2006 IPC World Championships in Switzerland. I also wasn’t very happy when I lost in the Men’s Doubles at the US National Championship in the semi-finals. Other than that I do not have too many regrets in table tennis.

Since your beginning, do you think Para TT has evolved?

Paralympic Table Tennis has evolved quite a bit since I started playing. I think some of the big changes started came in 2004 when qualifications got a lot tougher. I am very familiar with the USA standard of Para Table tennis and I can say that it has really changed quite a bit over the past 10 years.

Another big change was the classification system. I still think it needs some work and the parameters need to be defined a bit more clearly.

Beijing will be your third participation to Paralympic Games (Atlanta, Athens), do you prepare yourself differently?

For me the sport of table tennis is two things, physical and mental.

Physically if I feel well I know I can perform at my best. My goal at the Paralympic Games is to be able to play to the best of my ability. So for preparation physically I go jogging and I also watch my diet.

The other aspect is mentally. I am doing some training to improve my mental game but, I won’t mention it here because I do not want my competition to get any ideas. (O:

Also the USOC is helping us tremendously when it comes to preparation. They give us full medical insurance, training stipends, bonuses, free travel domestic and international, free hotel and they cover the cost of food. The USOC also gives us many extras.

Is there something special about playing in China?

I was thinking actually of stopping after the 2004 Paralympics. I have bone tumors near my spine which greatly restrict my movements and it is quite painful to play at times. However because this time the Paralympics is in China I knew I would regret it if I missed it. So I started to train to get back in shape. I hope to be at my best in Beijing.

Who will be your toughest opponents in Beijing?

The toughest opponent for me in Beijing is myself. I know I can beat any player in the world but, I know I can lose to any player also. My biggest hurdle is the mental game. I have been working on this area for quite a bit with help from my coach Sean O Neill.

Are you impacted by the V.O.C glue banning?

The biggest mistake I think was the change to the 40mm ball. I really enjoyed playing with the 38mm ball. To me table tennis is in some ways an art and even though we can still draw with the 40mm ball it seems as if the canvas has some how changed.

How is organized disabled TT in USA?

I believe we have 3 chances to qualify for the Paralympics. The first is if we can win a gold medal in our class at the Para-Pan American Games. The second is through world ranking. I am not really sure of the third.

Our coaches make it tough for us to qualify and they themselves set an internal standard for us. For my own personal training I compete in able bodied tournaments. These tournaments are great because I learn a lot from high level players. I have managed to beat just about every US National Champion we have had in the past 25 years with the exception of three and won hundreds of USATT sanctioned tournaments, so it is quite a bit of fun competing. I am actually quite happy with my able bodied results. I find it a bit easier playing able bodied players in some ways.

I'm not familiar with USATT tournament system. Are these open events where you can go to get selected to National Championships?

There is no try outs for the US National championships.  The men's open is open for anyone in the United States to play no matter what your level.  We do have State Championships and eventually they might only invite state champions to the nationals but, for now the tournament is open for anyone who can pay the entry fee.

Do you think it's more difficult to be a player from Americas region than from other regions?

In some ways it is tougher to be a player from the American region and in some ways it is easier. I will say that for wheelchair players it is a lot tougher. I watch the wheelchair game quite a bit and I enjoy it very much. The players from Europe and China are absolutely amazing. I do think its tough for the wheel chair players from the Americas to get high level competition unless they travel abroad. It is especially tough for the US wheelchair players.

For me, I would rather be in Europe. I love competition, especially when players are better than me. There are quite a few Paralympic players in Europe who have a higher standard of play than my self and if I lived in Europe I would go to all the tournaments to compete against them. I enjoy challenging myself and I especially enjoy finding a way to win against players stronger than myself.

Living in the Americas allows me to get a higher world ranking because I compete in the Para-Pan Am games. So I can go to fewer tournaments and get more points. That is an advantage when you are pressed for time and do not have the days to go and travel. Of course in the long run it is a lot worse for me because if I was living in Europe I could improve and still get quite a bit of points by entering more tournaments. We probably need to improve or ranking system a bit.

Do you see any difference in the game/tactics in Para TT and USATT ?

For me it is much harder to play against Paralympic players than it is against USA players. I have had very good results in both areas but, my results in the USA have come a bit easier and also at much less cost than they have internationally against Paralympic players. In Para TT the players are so much smarter and always thinking all the time. They are constantly playing your disability. In the USA a player’s big advantage is their physical ability. It is very similar to the advantage that class 10 players have physically over the rest of the classes. However we can overcome these physical advantages if the conditions are correct.

What do you when you're not playing TT?

Right now I am answering these questions from my university in Queens, NY. The name of the university is Queens College (www.qc.cuny.edu). I have one more semester and I will finish with a dual BA degree in Sociology and Philosophy. We have a table tennis team here which I started last year. I will probably end up doing Social Work. I will go to NYU or Columbia for my masters degree in Social Work.

I also run an event management company with my twin sister (www.seriouscelebrations.com). We started the company a few years ago. I also teach table tennis in my spare time.

I like Philosophy a lot, do you have any quote from a great philosopher that you find inspiring for your life?

"Many men have imagined republics and principalities that never really existed at all. Yet the way men live is so far removed from the way they ought to live that anyone who abandons what is for what should be pursues his downfall rather than his preservation."

Machiavelli

Do you have a blog or a web site that you would like to mention?

My favorite website is www.ping-pong.com.

They are my sponsors and they have many many different types of equipment.

Thanks,
Gaël Marziou

Photograph by Sean O Neill