News bits - Timo Boll, Segun Toriola

Timo chooses to stay with Borussia Dusseldorf. He signed a contract to be with them until 2014. Sergei Ivanov, President of Orenburg, had offered him a contract after the end of ECL's last season.
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The September World rankings have been released for 2011 and the big mover is Ma Long from No. 5 to No. 2. Wang Hao continues to lead the rankings. Guo Yan moves up from No. 4 to No. 2 while Li Xiaoxia stays at the top in the Women's category.

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Segun Toriola is the favourite at the 2011 All African games. He will be trying to win the title for the 5th consecutive time.

Table Tennis News Bites

India West Zone TT Champs to be held in Sep. at Maharashtra has been postponed. New dates awaited.

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“Korea”, the movie coming to theaters early next year, is based on the true story of the South and North Korean women’s table tennis teams.

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Celtics forward Kevin Garnett loves Table Tennis

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Volkswagen Women's World Cup,Toa Payoh Sports Hall,S'Pore from Oct 28 to 30, 2011.Guo Yan,Ding Ning,Ai Fukuhara,Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu.

China will field a rock solid team at the Rotterdam World Table Tennis Championships

China has decided to stick to the stars and will go with experience at this year's World Championships.

Most of the world's well known Chinese players are in the team. However, Ma Lin, Wang Liqin, Zhang Jike, and others had faced serious problems qualifying in the first phase of the selection trials. Many of these stars had actually finished in the 9-16 bracket. It was ironic that some of the World's top 10 players were not able to finish in the top 8 of the trials.

It speaks of the depth of the competition in that country! 

It is surprising that Hao Shuai, who upset the applecart of a few well known names, does not figure in the final list.


Men’s Singles: Wang Hao, Ma Lin, Wang Liqin, Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Xu Xin, Chen Qi
Women’s Singles Guo Yan, Li Xiaoxia, Guo Yue, Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Wu Yang,Fan Ying

Zhang Yining retires from Table Tennis to focus on Education

Zhang Yining, one of the all-time greats in Table Tennis, said that she quit Table Tennis to focus on her studies in the US. She will be pursuing a one-year course in Physical Education in the US.

According to her, the decision also gives the younger players an opportunity to show their mettle. Guo Yue, Guo Yan, Li Xiaoxia, Liu Shiwen, and Ding Ning are in the race to take her place.
The Chinese authorities are bound to be anxious, especially since the London Olympics are right around the corner. The immediate priority for the Chinese team is also the Rotterdam World Championships this year.

Zhang has an impressive tally of four Olympic gold medals, nine World Championships, and four World Cup wins.