My thoughts on meeting Michael Bublé
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See the Youtube Clip here Darius Knight on Michael Bublé’s show
Meeting Michael Bublé…well, in all honesty, I had never heard of the man before I met him! The day before the meeting I even humorously wrote on Facebook: “I’m meeting Michael Bublé tomorrow…Who are you, who are you?” , which probably angered a lot of his fans! I suppose it didn’t help that I pronounced his surname as “bubble” on camera…After doing so I instantly turned to the camera crew and said, “You have to edit it out!” However, truth be told, (with all due respect to Michael) I hadn’t really felt excited, prior to meeting him. Although, perhaps if I had known who he was beforehand, I might have been! Moreover, my coach wasn’t entirely happy with me meeting Michael, as the meeting was just one day before the Commonwealth Games began, and so, really, I should have been training hard like the other teams. To my coach (and, admittedly, to me - before I met him!) Michael was just an ordinairy guy – no-one special. What was amazing was that he seemed more excited and honoured to meet myself and Paul Drinkhall than I was to meet him, and had apparently heard quite a lot about us…and yet I knew nothing about him. To have someone as famous as Michael Bublé treat me, someone of less fame,with genuine respect, was extremely surprising and really impelled me to show him the greatest respect in return.
I think the meeting took place at Sheffield Arena…We began to play table tennis backstage with the T.V. and camera crew filming us, and, I must admit, Michael wasn’t the worst person I had played against…however he wasn’t the best out of all the famous people I’d previously met. Nevertheless, he seemed genuinely competitive and passionate about the game, and, furthermore, he seemed to really respect it, which is what I really liked. To hear that he takes a table everywhere he goes when on tour was also really surprising!
What’s more, when Paul and I started playing he began to yell loudly about how good we were – and that’s when we had just begun! Of course, in the beginning of a game the players start off quite slowly, but as Paul and I began to increase the speed of the game to show Michael how professionals play, he seemed to go crazy with excitement! Which I found extremely funny, as it seems normal to me, and not funny at all. So basically me and paul are playing and he’s screaming that how good we are… of course we start slowly and get get faster and faster and show him how we really do it and play now he’s screaming going crazy… I’m just laughing because it’s just something normal what we do… And then I invited Michael and his band mates to play with us. It was hilarious, they were all swearing (although it didn’t bother me) and Michael was throwing his bats around and breaking them. He even told me that he had broken quite a few before – good thing they weren’t anything worth the prices of my own bats! But what really struck me was that the T.V. crew kept asking Michael whether they could interview him, yet he just told them to where to go (well, in a nicer way) and declared that he never got opportunities like this, and that they should let him have the best time of his life! Which really made me respect him even more, as I felt, “Wow, this guy is really serious about table tennis!”. The t.v. crew understood, so we just kept playing…I even think that he improved after playing with me. At one point I whacked the ball straight past him and then he started running after me! It was a funny day, and in the end I have to say that I didn’t mind meeting him, just because he was so nice and down to earth. I got about 20 autograph requests too, but Michael didn’t mind. I said to him, “You live in Vancouver right?” and he replied “Yes” – and then I was like, “Smallville is filmed there too isn’t it?!” He said it was, and then I carried on to say that I was a massive fan of Tom Welling, probably his biggest…And do you know what he said to me? He said, “He’s one of my best friends, lives downstairs from me.” I was AMAZED and asked him to get something written for my girlfriend, as she’s a massive Smallville fan! He said he would, and I begged him to get me into his house. I coached him, so the least he could do was introduce me to Tom Welling!
But then I had to go…He invited me and Paul to come to his show, and even the T.V. crew asked us, saying that it would be good if we could…So we agreed to go. We had good seats, and I even took my best friend Pete and my neighbour Kane [who we call Buster – funny young guy who’s crazy about music, so it only seemed right to bring him along!]. There must have been about 15,000 people there, mainly young ladies and old women – so I was starting to think that this guy was a lady magnet, but at the same time I can understand why! So about 45 minutes into the show he starts telling the audience how he’s had one of the best days of his life…And how he met 2 amazing young guys…And I start begging him silently, “Please don’t ask us to stand up…” And what does he do? He asks us to stand up! Michael told the crowd how Paul and I were competing in the commonwealths. I never expected him to remember us, or even to take time out of his show to show his appreciation for us, which just made me a bigger fan of his. After all, his music wasn’t too bad…He’s quite smooth, and he can dance – although in a cheesy way, but that’s what all the women love!
Written by Darius Knight (edited by Elena Chiu)
China Training Camp + Pro Tour
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From August 10-28, I will be training in China, followed by the China Open.
Can’t really reveal much, as its top secret, of course!
Will send pictures during the camp.
London Grand Prix
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London is my home town and this competition is big for me, even if its just because of my own feelings about it.
Probably not much international competition as many will be resting, so going for the title, definitely!
China Pro Tour
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Straight after the Brazil pro tour, I’m off to my favourite home away from home: CHINA!
This is always a strong tournament, but many players will be resting so I’m going for this 100%.
It’s another greater opportunity to get the result I need to qualify for the pro tour finals for the U21.
Its my last year so why not go for it!
Brazil Pro Tour
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The target for this competition is at least a semi’s in U21 since all the leagues will have just finished and players will be tired.
Of course, many people will have the same idea as me.
A good result in the U21 will help me qualify for the U21 Pro Tour Finals, and hopefully a good result in the Men’s will help boost my ranking for Olympics qualification.
World Championships Singles
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For this competition, it’s difficult to say what I want to achieve as it’s going to be hard but a good way to start is one point at a time, I would be happy getting into the main draw (not sure of the system) and to have a good win as this is the biggest and most hardest competition in table tennis.
The Chinese team are bringing 7. In the Olympics they are only allowed 2.
Same goes for South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong.
As always, I’m up for the challenge.
Check out the tournament website: http://www.2011wttc.com/
Darius featured on Reuters
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Darius gives a very personal interview to Reuters.com on his aspirations for next year’s Olympics and the battle he faces.
Taken from the article:
“When I get in they say ‘come and get some food’. They’ve saved me an hour by not having to cook and then clean the kitchen,” said the Londoner, who quit the capital for Sheffield in northern England where elite training is more easily accessible.
“I do have some people, who win or lose, always text me to say ‘Come on’ or ‘well done.’ My mum doesn’t say anything to me.
“These friends, I wouldn’t say they’re more important than my mum, but they’re the ones who let me know they care and that they’re there for me.
“Every time another team plays their mums and dads are there. When I play it’s just me. That has an effect on you mentally.”
Full article here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/18/table-tennis-britain-knight-idUSLDE73G0I520110418
Darius featured in XBox Nations and Guiness World Record Attempt
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Four of the UK’s sporting greats and 2012 hopefuls – cricketer Graeme Swann, Olympic skeleton champion Amy Williams, Olympic medalist in gymnastics Louis Smith, and Commonwealth medalist in table tennis Darius Knight – battled it out for gold at theKinect Sports Superstars event for Xbox 360. Graeme, Amy, Louis and Darius all lined up to run the 100 metre sprint in Kinect Sports, with Darius and Amy blazing the fastest times at 9.20 and 9.33 seconds respectively, with Louis at 10.45, and Graeme 10.60. All the athletes ran the 100 metre sprint to issue a challenge to fans and gamers in the UK and worldwide to beat their times and help set a Guinness World Record for the most runners on Kinect Sports on Xbox LIVE on the 23rd April at 18:00.
Read the full story here:
Darius featured in the Gulf Times
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Read the article here:
Interview #1 with Liam Pitchford
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Hey everyone, recently I had a little sit down with my TT colleague Liam Pitchford and I gave him a quick 11 question interview.
Q1. When did you first start playing Table Tennis
A1. I first began at around 9 years of age in Junior School.
Q2. Why did you get involved with such an unusual game?
A2. I got into it just as something to do at lunch, but it soon grew on me. I found it interesting and challenging.
Q3. What are your biggest achievements to date?
A3. I recently won the Senior Six Nations - singles and team event, European Youth Bronze and Silver Medals, Team Bronze at the World Junior Championships, and I became the England Cadet Champion in 2008.
Q4. What do you do when you’re not playing Table Tennis?
A4. Normally I like to catch up with friends from school and watch a bit of TV, the usual really.
Q5. Describe yourself in 3 words.
A5. Funny, Talkative… Witty!
Q6. Do you have any sporting heroes or role models?
A6. I’d have to say Lance Armstrong is my all-time favourite, because of the sheer amount of courage and determination he has shown, as well as the consistency of his performance over the years.
Q7. How often do you train during the week?
A7. Every single week day I train twice a day, for about three hours each. We work on technical aspects as well as physical.
Q8. Who is your current sponsor?
A8. Butterfly
Q9. What are your current goals for the future?
A9. My main aim is to make the all-imporant Team GB for 2012, but the more immediate goal is to win medals at the European and World Youth events.
Q10. What has been your proudest moment so far in sport?
A10. My proudest moment was probably when I won the vital fifth game at the European Youths to take the team to the final.
Q11. Who has been your best win?
A11. I have beaten Liu Song, World Ranked 95
Thank you Liam, I hope everyone enjoyed this interview, more to come.