The Rwanda Olympic Committee (ROC) has officially launched the first-ever table tennis coaches' training course in the country.

The training, which will last for 10 days from Monday, January 17, has attracted 29 participants including eight women and three coaches representing Para Table Tennis – table tennis for people with disabilities.

Cédric Rouleau, a French expert from the International Table Tennis Association (ITTF), is conducting the training, which consists of two parts; knowledge and application.

According to ROC, it is aimed at improving the level of coaching and increasing the number of qualified coaches in the teams.

"Our responsibilities include assisting our members in technical or management training. The 10-day course is for 29 coaches so we hope that at least in each region we may have a trained table tennis coach in Rwanda," said Joseph Kajangwe, the Secretary General of ROC.

John Birungi, President of the Rwandan Table Tennis Association, said that local coaches were not at the required level and needed to be trained in order to make the game more professional.

"It simply came to our notice then. Thank you to the Olympic Committee for organizing this event and for working closely with the Ministry of Sports. We need high level knowledge to make this game more professional," he said.

Rouleau underlined that he hopes the days he will spend with the coaches will be significant in improving their skills, and on a particular note, promote Para Table Tennis.

The Frenchman also donated equipment to the Rwanda Table Tennis Association. The kits include playing balls, filets, playing paddles and books donated by the Association of Games in Mauritius, Ping Sans Frontières and Go Sport Company.