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| Human Interest | |
|---|---|
Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Sheffield, ENG |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Barrow TTC: England |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Spending time with friends, playing computer games and watching comic productions and cartoons. (team-2012.com, 23 Aug 2010) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Becoming the figurehead for the Fred Perry Urban Cup and winning the Doubles Youth Olympic gold medal with Paul Drinkhall. (barrowtabletennisclub.co.uk, 06 Aug 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | He walked into a youth club in Battersea where they were playing table tennis and he picked up a bat and started playing. |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | Gideon Ashison. (guardian.co.uk, 14 Dec 2008) |
| Ambitions | To win gold at the London 2012 Olympics. He would also like to be a top level table tennis coach. (dariusknight.com, 23 Aug 2010, nhs.uk, 16 Jul 2009) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Gideon Ashison |
| Coach from what year? | 2002 |
| Preferred position / style / stance / technique | Shakehand |
| Handedness | Left |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He started playing the sport when he was nine years old. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2009 |
| Competing for | England |
| Tournament | Commonwealth Championships |
| Location | Glasgow |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | 'Table tennis's Lewis Hamilton', 'Underdog'. (dariusknight.com, 23 Aug 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Coach from which country? | England |
General Interest | |
| Other information | LIFE OF CRIME Before he started playing table tennis, he spent his time in a gang hanging around a council estate in South London and became part of a lifestyle filled with drugs and crime. When he was eleven, he wandered into a youth club in Battersea and picked up a table tennis bat and started playing. He was the worst player there according to coach Gideon Ashison but he soon fell in love with the sport. His coach Ashison then selected a few youngsters from the club including Darius, to work with him in a garden shed where they could practice uninterrupted everyday. He then received donations from people who had heard about his story, which resulted in TTK Greenhouse, a sports charity, being established. He is known as 'The Underdog' because of the struggles he has overcome to become an elite table tennis player. He has had a strong impact on urban youth culture in England, as a role model and a celebrity, known for giving insightful interviews and always speaking the truth. (dariusknight.com, 23 Aug 2010) ROLE MODEL He is sponsored by fashion brand Fred Perry, with whom he has established a relationship in order to raise the profile of the sport and help cultivate sport for underprivileged children. He is also the figurehead for the Fred Perry Urban Cup which promotes table tennis in inner cities and has appeared on BBC TV's Olympic Dreams documentary as part of his involvement with the VISA team for Olympic Hopefuls. (dariusknight.com, 23 Aug 2010) |