WZ: Hi Corinna.  Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into table tennis?
 
CW: I was born in Glasgow but moved to Perth when I was three and lived there for 15 years before moving back to Glasgow in 2008 for training and college.

My dad got me into table tennis as we had a table in our garage, and when I was eight he took me out and I've played ever since. I was asked along to Drumchapel Table Tennis Club by Terry McLernon when I was 11 and my mum would drive me through twice a week at least to train. 

WZ: Now that you are a top player, how much of a commitment is it to do what you do?  How often do you have train, do you travel abroad a lot, do you have to sacrifice a lot of other things?

CW: I play nearly every night, Monday to Thursday with Friday off which is usually spent driving to tournaments for the weekend.

In the summer I went to China for three weeks of training with other Scottish players. It was a great experience as China are the best in the world at table tennis.

Since I started played table tennis and started playing for Scotland I have been to six Junior European Championships, places I would never have got to go to if I didn’t take up the sport. I have been to Bratislava, Serbia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Sarajevo. I have also been to Spain and Sweden a couple of times for training.

I would say that I have given up a social life with friends from school and college to play the sport as much as I can but I have made so many friends from playing the sport in different countries that it has balanced out.

WZ: At what point did table tennis stop becoming a past-time and you realised that you might be pretty good at it? 

CW: I guess it was when I started to train through in Drumchapel that I started to think I could be good at the game because I was playing better people and I was getting coaching from a top coach. When I first started I would never have believed that I would be good enough to go to different places in the world but table tennis gave me the chance to go to places I would never have dreamed of going to.

WZ: How important is physical fitness and conditioning in table tennis?
 
CW: People don't believe that any fitness is involved in table tennis but when you’re in high competition and playing a tough game and it’s in the final set, you need the strength physically and mentally to be able to finish out the game.

Fitness is needed in all parts of the game, especially the legs. You need to be able to move around the court and get into the correct position and your legs need to be strong enough for this. You may also be playing a tournament that you’re on game after game all the way to the final and you need to have fitness to keep you going to the end and still be able to play your best in the final.

In training we play two and a half hours on the table and we do half an hour physical training every day.

WZ: Who are the key people that have helped you make it to the level you are currently at in table tennis?
 
CW: My mum played a big part in helping as she was the one to drive me to Glasgow every time training was on, without fail for six years.

My coach from Drumchapel, Terry McLernon, and all the other players and coaches at the club all helped, as I trained there for six years before the Scottish training started. Terry drives us all to places in Britain when there are tournaments. He has also helped in finding me places to stay when I needed to stay for the weekend if training was on instead of going home and coming back the next day. He does a lot for his players and the club.

WZ: How has it been working with your new national coach?
 
CW: Since the new coach has been here, my game has made a big improvement and so has my fitness. My technique has changed and has helped me to get better and to even win my first Scottish Senior National Championship last May.

I am still continuing to get better with the training and need to keep working hard to raise my game even further.
 
WZ: Who is the best / toughest opponent you have ever come up against? 

CW: The best player I’ve came up against would be Australian number two, Miao Miao. She was really good because she is a full time player and had really good training since she started playing and is highly ranked in the world.

If I played her again I would just to play my own game instead of hers. I was slightly intimidated when playing her because she's such a good player and this probably put me off playing my own game.

WZ: Can you tell us a bit about your university life and how you are enjoying it?
 
CW: I am in my second year at Langside College studying HND Sports Coaching with Development of Sport.

I am really enjoying it as I have always been into sports and enjoy working with children. The college support me on my table tennis and understand if I am away at tournaments and allow me extended time to hand in assignments if I need to.

So far table tennis and studying have balanced out well as I still have time after training or before training to do my college work.

WZ: What is your long term ambition in table tennis?
 

CW: My long term ambition is to play in the Commonwealth Games in 2014. I played in the Table Tennis Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year and loved the whole atmosphere and the fact that we were playing on home ground.

RO
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* Corinna has also recently won the Scottish Universities Sport Table Tennis Championships for 2009.  Jenni Lloyd, from SUS, congratulated Corinna by saying: “I was so pleased to hear that this months athlete of the month was from Langside College.  College Sport is just getting itself off the ground and to have such an amazing athlete like Corinna leading the way is incredible. I hope she continues to represent Scottish Colleges and I wish her every success for the future.”