In addition to watching the young players in action, Thomas Weikert was able to meet several notable officials; discussions were held with Goran Tilovski, President of the North Macedonia Table Tennis Assocation, Zlatko Rikaloski, the Vice President and Darko Kaevski, the Director of the Agency for Youth and Sports.

“I wanted to visit some of the smaller countries; I wanted to visit the Balkans, it was my first time to North Macedonia. I wanted to see the area.” Thomas Weikert

Impressively for a first attempt the junior boys’ singles event has attracted 56 entries, for the junior girls’ singles it is 39 in total.

“Everyone is working hard to promote table tennis, they have an active board and a high number of volunteers; everything was very good. I was able to hold several discussions, the response was very positive. Importantly, they have a high number of young players; there is a strong base from which they can most certainly improve. They need help, they need equipment and coaches, it’s something for our High Performance and Development Department to consider; maybe we can help.” Thomas Weikert

One day remains in Skopje, proceedings conclude on Saturday 12th October, the day on which the medallists in the individual events will be known; success for the host nation, medals? Not this year but who knows for the future?

In North Macedonia above all, the spirit is willing.