Because countries like Slovakia don't have national sports like GAA they appear to be able to throw more cash into Table Tennis and seem to attract more juniors. In Ireland, many of our potential juniors are attracted to GAA due to family and community involvement.
This has major implications for minority sports as we do not have the same pulling power as big organisations and high profile sports such as Rugby and Soccer.
In the meantime I will begin preparation to try and beat my Slovakian counterparts. I always like to show other nationalities that Ireland can be no walk over when it comes to ping pong.
JB