SEEING the growth of the sport south of Manila, table tennis chief Ting Ledesma recently opened the Play Activ Center at the Villar-owned NOMO Vista Mall on Molino Boulevard in Bacoor, Cavite.
“Our vision for this venue is to draw more table tennis players in the area south of Manila, especially those in Cavite, to have a more convenient and comfortable place to play at an accessible venue and reasonable rates,” Ledesma, the Philippine Table Tennis Federation president, said.
He said that more than a dozen new tables for table tennis as well as pool tables will be available at the Play Activ Center located on the third floor of the mall, adding that they intend to hold PTTF-sanctioned tournaments at the facility shortly.
The table tennis honcho said that having a sort of developmental hub for Cavite and neighboring areas was in line with the PTTF’s plans to have a computerized national ranking system for all athletes registered with the federation.
“I have been dreaming of this computerized system for the past several years and we now have it,” Ledesma said.
He said that competent and federation-accredited coaches will be on hand to train beginners as well as aspiring table tennis players, led by Allan Reyes, who is also a licensed PTTF technical official, together with his deputy, Cavite State University-Imus varsity player Marky Gomez.
With the numerous tables for the sport popularly known as “pingpong” available, Reyes said that the prize of their unlimited use is just 100 per participant “so they can play to their hearts content,” and also play poo;
Ledesma said that with approval of the mall’s managers, “we hope to have darts and chess added to the list of sports at the Play Activ Center as our way of encouraging a sports-minded and health-conscious community in the area.”
