When William Henzell quit his job last year he had one thing on his mind – London 2012.

The Australian table tennis Champion threw in his full time job to seek the best possible training and competition he could get his hands on in the lead up to Games.

“I moved to Austria where there is probably one of the best training facilities in the world,” Henzell said.

“There I have had the ability to play full time in the European League and train with some of the best players in the world. It was a complete upheaval but I was willing to put it all on the line for a shot at London.”

Henzell has recently returned to Australia where he last week competed in the Australian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sydney. His success at the tournament now sees him progress to the Oceania Qualification Tournament which will take place from 5 – 8 March.

“The Australian tournament was really important,” he said. “The higher you placed in that tournament the better placed you are going into Oceanias so it was vital I did well.”

Henzell will be one of four Australian men contesting the event.  He is currently the number one ranked male in Oceania so his chances of qualification look good but he is by no means complacent.

“Australia and New Zealand are long-time rivals and are by far the two strongest nationalities in Oceania,” he said. “There are only three spots on offer for men’s singles and only two of those go to Australia so the competition will be fierce.”

If successful, London will be Henzell’s third Olympic Games, having competed in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

As a 22-year-old, Henzell made history in Athens when he became the first Australian male to win matches in both the singles and doubles events. He then made further history when he reached the third round of the singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“My Olympic experience will definitely help me in London,” the 29-year-old from Melbourne said.

“In Athens I was overawed by the whole experience of being at an Olympics and in Beijing I think I really learned from that. I stayed away from the hype and focused on my competition and played some of the best table tennis of my life. In London I hope to really build on that and continue the hard work that I have been doing in training.”

The 2012 Olympic Games Table Tennis Oceania Qualification Tournament will take place from 5 – 8 march at the State Olympic Sports Centre in Sydney Olympic Park.

Alice Wheeler
AOC