AFTER watching local players in action in the Curtain-raiser competition, Swedish coach Roger Lagerfeldt won't be involved in the coaching duties as the league competition starts Thursday March 4 .

Lagerfeldt, who arrived here on December 1, 2001, has already left the country at the end of a two-year contract.

The 1974 European junior champion and 1976 European vice-champion took over as the country's national team coach from Bulgarian George Damianov in February 2002.

Lagerfeldt, a former world bronze medallist, trained the Seychelles team for the Sixth Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in Mauritius last year and other big competitions like the African Table Tennis Championship.

According to Francis Remie, chairman of the Seychelles Table Tennis Association, local players will train under the guidance of Seychellois Jimmy Vel who recently attended a coaching course in Hungary.

As for the league competition, the players will only play the singles event – senior men's and ladies' singles as well as under 14 boys' and girls' singles.