European Veterans Championships | 27 Jun 2023

Ukranian player on “home soil” in Norway

There are few Ukrainian table tennis players participating in the European Veterans Championships in Sandefjord. ETTU has taken an admirable stand point i supporting Ukraine in the war.

One Ukrainian player who feels very much at home in Sandefjord is Roman ODINTSOV, who fled to Norway when the war started. As a table tennis player he immediately started searching for local table tennis clubs to continue with his beloved sport. He found what he was searching for in STIF Sandefjord, the local table tennis club.

In STIF hel felt welcome from the very first minute, and mr. ODINTSOV says table tennis helped him both to integrate into the local society and it also helped him to forget a little of all the traumas from experiencing the war at home.

His son, Vadym ODINTSOV, has started high school in Norway and is even more integrated in the local society than his father. They are both learning Norwegian and their wish is to settle down in Norway, in a city that has taken so good care of them since their arrival.

Evy KRUSE, administrative leader of the club, and Ken-Vidar JOHANSEN, the coach, both agree that father and son ODINTSIV have contributed a lot to their table tennis club. The ODINTSOVs are the first to volunteer when work has to be done, if it is arranging a table tennis tournement or recruiting new players, they are there says the club leaders.

For Roman ODINTSOV it has been a pleasure to participate in the European Veterans Championships on his new «home soil».