Ecuadorian, who plays in the Bundesliga, is in Ecuador, where he arrived to spend a few days with his family and get a new passport.
The Ecuadorian microtenist Alberto Miño was unable to travel to Houston (United States) to compete in the singles games of the Table Tennis World Cup due to an administrative error between the travel agency and the bank that made the transfer with the payment of the ticket value.
The Ecuadorian national team, who plays in the Bundesliga, said: “On August 3, I filled out the form to get a visa to the United States. I did it in advance, but due to the existing problems they gave me an appointment for November 10 at the Munich consulate. They give me the visa, but they tell me that I must leave my passport just in the week that I was supposed to travel to Lima for the Pan American Championship; and I got the visa in Lima. And when I show up at the airport, they tell me that the ticket did not exist because, supposedly, the payment had not been made. “
Miño points out that the only way out they gave him was buy another ticket, but it was impossible, because it was between $ 2,700 and $ 2,800. “In the end, I couldn’t take that flight and my presence in the World Cup was complicated ”.
“I felt super sad, because I had fought since August to get the visa,” said the player, who was going to participate in his seventh world competition. In the last three, it has been installed in the top 128, and for this World Cup he arrived in better shape and had more chance to be among the 64 or 32 best of the tournament.
In Ecuador and Lima
The selected tricolor arrived this week in Guayaquil, taking advantage of the proximity to Lima (Peru), where he had participated in the games of singles and men’s doubles of the Pan American.
In Lima, Miño reached the quarterfinals, and the Brazilian Hugo Calderano, located in position 56 of the ranking Latin American, defeated him 4-3. “He was playing super well; I got 3-1 ahead on the scoreboard. I felt very comfortable playing, but there were moments in the game where I left with a small advantage and it was very difficult for me to overcome those markers. I also think that it was a lot of deconcentration, nervousness, and that was what ultimately took its toll on me. Calderano’s merit is having a constant rhythm and showing a good level ”.
Calderano for his game with Miño was located in position 56, while the Ecuadorian was installed, at that time, in 80; today is 74. “Sometimes the ranking, but when we are at the table the location does not weigh. Count a little if you are in it top 10th top 20, but the ranking it is not decisive after a match ”.
Miño participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and says that this changed his life inside his club, the TTC Schewalbe Bergneustadt, which participates in the German Table Tennis League. “Before the Olympics, I wasn’t a starter; But now that the Tokyo Games have passed and with the development that I have had in the League, they have given me the opportunity to start. I have won many matches and, the truth, that has been an impulse to have the level of play so high that I have now and that It could allow me to enter the 50 or 60 of the world, for next year”.
Miño points out that little by little he is learning German and has had to take several courses to learn more than one language that he describes as “very complicated.”
For the mesotenista, the most important thing about playing in the German League is that allows you to raise the technical level, because he has to play against rivals located in the top 10th top 20 of ranking world.
When making a comparison between the level of the French League – in which he was active in his early days in Europe – and the German, the Ecuadorian indicates that the Bundesliga is stronger and more commercial for the quality of the players and the investment of the private company. The Ecuadorian, along with a Paraguayan and a Brazilian, are the only South American players who are active in Germany.
The Ecuadorian’s next competition will be in Dusseldorf (Germany) from December 6 to 10, at the Word Tour Contender, and will also continue to perform in the Bundesliga.
Miño states that belonging to the High Performance Plan of the Ministry of Sports It has helped him to be able to participate in the different international tournaments, and what is missing is a national coach, a room where the national team can concentrate. “That is missing for have a structure within table tennis and to be able to get new players so that they can go and prepare elsewhere ”.
The tricolor limits that in Latin America there is no sports culture, because athletes from other specialties are not supported, and that forces them to migrate to Europe, because soccer is the priority in the region.
Miño, second in the Latin American of 2016, points out that he will always be linked to table tennis, although playing at a professional level will be until when he is 36, 37 or 38 years old. “Sports maturity is reached at 31 or 32 years. I could say that these three years to come will be stronger for me ”.
Mesoteinsta recognizes that the strongest rival it has ever had is the Cuban Jorge Campos, whom he defeated to earn his spot in Tokyo; while having a rematch with him Brazilian Calderano, because he has beaten him in several tournaments and has not been able to advance, although the first time they faced the victory was for the Ecuadorian.
The Ecuadorian, who has won four times the South American Table Tennis Championship, was in Tokyo when his compatriot Richard Carapaz he won the gold medal in the road event of the Olympic Games. “I was there and, to be honest, my skin crawled from seeing it on television. That we had not seen a long time ago; and there were three Olympic medals, which caused us a lot of joy ”.
The murder of the athlete Álex Quiñónez It also affected the microten player, who said that when he heard the news it fell like a bucket of cold water. “I did not imagine that something like this could happen, especially with such an outstanding athlete. It is terrible that these things happen in Ecuador. And I was surprised to learn of his murder. ” (D)
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