(by Steve Hopkins)
At the end of May, one of Canada’s best, Jeremy Hazin, visited WAB Club Rhode Island Table Tennis. Jeremy was with his friend, Nikhil Nanda Veeraghavan for some graduation festivitities in the area. Nikhil regularly plays in tournaments in Rhode Island.
The visit gave us an opportunity to connect – and gave me an opportunity to ask a few interview questions.
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(1) What brings you to Rhode Island – and how did you like our little club?
I like the Rhode Island club a lot, it is a nice and calm private facility- which is ideal for private professional training of small groups.
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(2) Are you and Nikhil working on anything in particular, or just having fun and staying in shape?
Since I have already been in college for 2 years, I was just keeping in shape as I don’t have the chance to get to practice. NYU has been really tough on me- given that it is one of the top 25 colleges in the world.
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(3) How long has it been since you were National Champion in Canada? With school, are you still able to train – or is this going to be a break? What major? What school schedule?
I was national champion in 2017 and 2018. After graduating from high school in 2018, I took time off from school to go professional with one goal in mind- which was the 2020 Olympics. And in 2021, my Olympic dream came true and I pursued what every athlete in any sport dreams of. After reaching that goal, I stopped table tennis full time and began college at NYU in the fall of 2021. I rarely practice as my spare time is devoted to either studying or earning some extra money coaching at Pingpod (as tuition comes at a really high price).
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(4) What’s next for you in table tennis?
I will finish school in Spring of 2025. In terms of table tennis, the new major league is something I look forward to, as I will get a chance to practice more often and play some high level matches. In terms of any big events, there is currently no plan as I will have to see my situation at the time.
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(5) When you were here, you said you were heading off to a Pan Am Trials event. How’d the event go?
The trials this time didn’t go too well for me. The format did not help me, I got out of my group but then I played the same person I beat the day before as there were no cross overs with the other group – so we played again in the knock out. I won on the first day, but lost on the second day. Therefore, I did not make it this time.
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Thanks for taking the time to chat, Jeremy. You (and Nikhil) are welcome at the Rhode Island club any time
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