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Kiwi Quested top of the shots

No stranger to competitive table tennis since his arrival on local soil last year, New Zealander Blair Quested has been lighting up the sport with an array of explosive strokes.

After powering past all before him in the Top Eight Singles championship recently, the 32-year-old, who is also the reigning Bermuda Closed champion, followed up by retaining the Bermuda Open title he won a year ago.

A fierce competitor by nature, Quested says it's the enjoyment of the sport that keeps him motivated, not just the glory of winning.

“When I arrived here last year, I was drafted straight away into the Old Colony Club team with Nick Frost, Chris Fleming and Dave Waltham,” he said. “ And I played in 15 matches and was undefeated.

“I began playing when I was about 14 or 15 years-old. My father and I would play across the kitchen table.

“After I started to develop a bit of a swing, my father built a table for our games room and then from there my parents entered me into a club.”

Quested noted how within a year of playing table tennis for Auckland, he caught the eye of scouts and was picked for the New Zealand national youth team, for whom he played several matches.

However, after a few years competing at the top level, the Kiwi began to turn to other sports.

Quested is also a keen squash player and can regularly be found at the Devonshire courts.

“I began to realise that there were other sports out there that I could have a go at,” he said. “I guess you could say that I am a bit like (national team cricketer) Albert Steede in a way,” adding that golf and tennis were also high on his list of sporting activities.

“I played squash with friends back home and so I thought when I arrived here that I would again get involved with the sport.

“They (squash players) are a fantastic bunch and it just adds to the overall enjoyment of the game.”

Downplaying his own success at table tennis, Quested says the sport could use more funding, although he admires current Bermuda Table Tennis Association president Myron Piper's active involvement as a coach, player and administrator.

“Myron has very active interests in the sport as he coaches several players and is always trying to invite overseas teams to come down and play in Bermuda.

“Although the standard is not what you would find back home, it is still enjoyable and of a fairly good standard. However, it wouldn't hurt any if we could get some sort of funding.”

Quested has only tasted defeat once this season, against Piper in the Bank of Butterfield League.