Discipline the key in TT, says Chris Marsh

According to three-time national champion Chris Marsh, discipline is essential for those who seek to scale the heights in table tennis. Marsh sees that winning discipline in 2023 Jamaica champion Mark Phillips, whom he says learnt a lot at the recent North American Team Championships in Washington.

Now 47, Marsh spoke admiringly of Phillips’ play in Washington. Asked to advise young players on the keys to success, the experienced left-hander replied, “Keep disciplined as I was telling Mark because he learnt a lot and he held his own as well, because while we were there and watching even some of the games and even how he played, you play what you know, you keep your level up.”

After a slow start, the team – 4Yardies and a GT – won three of their five encounters in the preliminary group stage and vaulted into the third of 17 divisions. Phillips, Kane Watson, Marsh and US-based Michael Henry then stepped on the gas, winning five of their seven division three group matches. Unfortunately, they lost a place in the semis on countback as the other team with a 5-2 record had defeated them. To add salt to the wound, Phillips and company earlier defeated the eventual runner-up, Mad Green, 5-2.

“Don’t take anybody for granted,” Marsh continued, “and as I said before, discipline. Just play a disciplined game. Just stick to a system that you know will work. You don’t just play how you feel like and how you love to play.”

Then he tabled a word of advice he once received from Stephen Hylton, the three-time Caribbean champion, on international duty while Hylton was the coach.

“I said to Stephen, I don’t know how I won, and he said, Chris, that’s OK, and he told me this,” Marsh recounted, “and I always remember this and I share it with a lot of kids and upcoming players. He said to me that it’s not how you feel comfortable playing, it’s what makes your opponent uncomfortable. To date, I always remember those words.”

As for his own playing career, Marsh explained, “I guess it’s the deep love for the game and I guess, seeing that I’m not so young again, healthwise and I like the competitive nature. I’m a competitor and I like competing. So those are the things that keep me in the sport so far.”

Marsh finished second to Watson at the 2022 national championships.