Sean McAnaney is an Irish table tennis legend and is helping the country’s top talent dream of Olympic medals.
On his resume is Na Liu, born in Northeast China, in 1983, who ended up playing for the UK at the London 2012 Olympics. And now there’s rising stars Ryan Li and Adam Hedderly.
Ken Browne has the story from Dublin.
On his resume is Na Liu, born in Northeast China, in 1983, who ended up playing for the UK at the London 2012 Olympics. And now there’s rising stars Ryan Li and Adam Hedderly.
Ken Browne has the story from Dublin.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Table tennis, ping-pong, jiu-jitsu, whatever you call it, it's one of the world's most loved sports with 300 million registered players in China alone.
00:13But passion for the game crosses many borders and here at the Loop Table Tennis Club Dublin, Ryan and Adam both represent Ireland at underage level.
00:24One day I would love to be the first Ireland Olympic medalist.
00:28I'd love to go to China to play with all the really good professionals and train with the really good coaches.
00:35Ask them who their favourite players are and one name always pops up.
00:39Ma Long.
00:41That's China's six-time Olympic gold medalist. But Irish inspiration isn't hard to find either.
00:48Two-time Irish national champion Sean McEnany is here too. He's dedicated a lifetime to the sport and to Sino-Irish understanding too.
00:58Well, I've done a number of cultural exchange programmes over the years. Both Irish kids going to China and Chinese kids coming to Ireland.
01:06And they've integrated very, very well over the years and friendships have continued for many years.
01:12This Friday night training session is in full swing here in Dublin with Irish and Chinese people playing together.
01:20But sport isn't the only universal language that Sean has used to bring people together.
01:24He's also used music and dance. Remember the Irish dancing scene from the Titanic?
01:33McEnany has toured China with the Titanic dance show he co-created.
01:39Music, song, dance relates to China. Storytelling in China is also very, very important. Music and dance.
01:46So I think from a culture and from an arts point of view, I think there's a big communication between Ireland and China.
01:55He's been helping get China and Ireland in step for decades, bringing two cultures together from playing on tables to dancing on them.
02:05Ken Brown, CGTN, Dublin.