Who is Rodrigo Tapia?

Rodrigo Tapia from Ecuador

Rodrigo Tapia, born on July 29, 1994 in Guayaquil, is an Ecuadorian table tennis player.  His original passion was soccer in which he trained for three years.

At the age of 11 Rodrigo and his younger brother Julio started playing many hours of ping-pong in different places.  These places included the three cities they visited during their vacations, and in each city Rodrigo and his brother were always able to find a table to spend their vacation time playing ping-pong.  Is this a coincidence or is Rodrigo made for Table Tennis?

His history does not end there.  His parents were trying to figure out which sport Rodrigo should practice and so on Pablo’s birthday, parents Mayra Fiallo and Pablo Tapia decided to purchased a table.

They thought how much fun a table could bring to all their lives.

One day Rodrigo’s uncle, Rodrigo Tapia, suggested that the parents take both kids to FEDEGUAYAS (Guayas Federation) for lessons.  The uncle mentioned that table tennis classes are available for kids and so their parents went the next three mornings to get information but were unsuccessful.  Finally, on the fourth day, by asking many people, they found out the place was open in the afternoon and that table tennis classes start at 3:00 pm.  During this time, Rodrigo’s family were continuing to think which sport Rodrigo would enjoy.  Now they realized that table tennis is his actual passion.  From that day forward, Rodrigo Tapia become part of the wonderful table tennis world.

And in this year, 2013, Rodrigo Tapia is part of the Ecuador table tennis team and has won bronze medals in singles events.

Always behind a good athlete is a good mom and Mayra Fiallo is a great example of what a good mother does.  Once Rodrigo started his table tennis training, Mayra has taken him to train every day.

The time, effort and dedication of this exemplary mother catapulted Rodrigo to where he is today.