Road tennis champions Christophe Nickels and Emma Hoang are elated after winning the grand prize of a trip to Barbados during the 2020 Dubai International Heritage Sports Exhibition and Conference (DIHSEC) held this past week.
When the one week of competition concluded today Friday, Hoang captured the women’s category while Nickels prevailed victorious in the men’s as they each received seven days of accommodation and an airline ticket, airport transfers and island tour as the grand prize.
The 31-year-old Nickels from Luxembourg won the men’s final and explained that he was lucky to not only play well but also come out on top in Dubai.
“It is always an incredible feeling when you discover something new because this is something new for me. It is always the very best feeling when you leave the court as the winner, that is really the best there is,” Nickels said.
Meanwhile, the women’s champion Hoang said the final was great and constant training during the entire week helped her to emerge victoriously. She also commended the Barbadian coaches for an excellent job and noted she is looking forward to visiting Barbados.
President of the Professional Road Tennis Association Dale Clarke told Barbados Today that the showcase was successful and foresees this as the stepping stone towards expanding the road tennis brand globally.
“The Showcase has been a success. The coaching clinics have been well attended. It’s amazing seeing so many players from various countries, eager to learn about and play road tennis.
“This showcase will definitely accelerate our global promotion of the sport. This showcase of taking Road Tennis to the world in Dubai was simply awesome. I think we exceeded all expectations by interacting with participants from at least over 34 countries,” Clarke said.
From left, men’s road tennis champion Christophe Nickels and women’s champion Emma Hoang pose with one of the organisers Adrian Donovan.
He also took time to thank The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, The National Sports Council and Invest Barbados, for giving the Professional Road Tennis Association, the opportunity to showcase road tennis at Expo 2020 Dubai.
One of the participants, Janan Alkhaja, who is from Belgium, stated that she is excited to learn the sport.
“I am very excited to participate in the competition after an intensive week of training with the coaches and players from Barbados. Also, learning a sport from a country is also part of discovering a new culture, and I am very happy to have this chance. I never played road tennis before but I used to play tennis.
“I learnt many things: from movimentation, the way you hit the ball, your position on the court, etc. Very different from tennis so I needed to adapt myself and try to learn the right way to play road tennis. I also really like the competitive mindset that has been going on here for the entire week. The coach was not easy on me either but I really like how they pushed me to train better,” she explained.
She added, “I definitely see road tennis as an international sport: anyone can start playing, anywhere on a smooth surface, you have great athletes and coaches to spread and teach around the world, it can easily be integrated into the school’s system, it is not expensive so anyone can access it.
“Get a racquet, bend on your knees and start enjoying it (road tennis)! You will have a lot of fun playing with friends, be in great shape and road tennis will soon become an essential in your life.”
Meanwhile, Anna Krukovskaya from Russia shared that she is looking forward to more competitions.
“I am super excited and look forward to this road tennis competition with participants from all over the world. I’ve never played road tennis previously. I found it just a perfect solution – a balance between tennis and table tennis. I’d love it to be popular all over the world. It’s a fun game where your entire body works, and keeps you energized all the time,” Krukovskaya said.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
