World Table Tennis Day 2016

Today is the World Table Tennis for All day. On this day, the ITTF is launching Table Tennis for NepALL, a project backed by the UN.

Thomas Weikart will be one of the dignitaries who will launch this program in Nepal.

$150, 000 will be spent over three years for this project.

2015 European Para Table Tennis Championships at Vejle

Denmark will play host to the 2015 edition of the European Para Table Tennis championships. The tournament will run from October 12 to 17, 2015.

The tournament will be held at Spektrum, which a brand new stadium. Twelve tables will be set up for the event.
The tournament is being organized by the Danish Sports Organisation of the Disabled, EliteVejle, Vejle Municipality, Sport Event Denmark, The Danish Table Tennis Federation and the ITTF.

Want more information? Just write an email to the following:
editor@tabletennisbug.com

ITTF makes it to 222, Table Tennis leading sport in the World

Table Tennis is now the sport with the highest country memberships in the world. It replaces FIVB with 222 countries now in its fold.

ITTF president Thomas Weikart made the announcement recently. 

Sao Tome and Principe and South Sudan were the most recent ITTF joinees. Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Bahamas do not have Table Tennis associations. ITTF is working with the National Olympic Committees of these countries.

Indian girls led by Ayhika Mukherjee, win Slovak Junior Open Table Tennis team title

India, the top seeds at the Slovak ITTF Junior Open tournament, justified their seeding by clinching the title. Ayhika Mukherjee was the star player for the Indian team ably assisted by Priyadarshini Das and Sreeja Akula.

In the finals, they beat the tough Chinese Taipei team 3-2. Earlier, the girls in form had beaten Bulgaria in another close tie.

Photos courtesy of the ITTF. 

Editor

No-hands, mouth Table Tennis player Ibrahim plays with Ma Long, Samsonov, Mizutani, Wang Hao!

Ibrahim Hamato from Egypt is now famous in the virtual world as the "no-mouth" Table Tennis player. ITTF President Adham Sharara invited him to the World Table Tennis Team Championships tournament at Zen Noh. Ibrahim got a chance to knock some balls with Ma Long, Wang Hao, Jun Mizutani, and Samsonov! They were all shocked to see the skills displayed by Ibrahim.

Ibrahim demonstrated the indomitable spirit of humans by expressing his interest in improving his game and wished that he got more training.


Here's the video from the official ITTF Channel, courtesy of the ITTF.


Here's a video of Ibrahim playing an actual match in a tournament! Video by RafeWinter.

Sharath Kamal performs creditably at maiden Table Tennis World Cup

Sharath Kamal finished second in one of the toughest groups at the World Cup Table Tennis tournament in Belgium. Nevertheless, a good performance in a consistent year in which he still has a great winning record in the European league matches and thus has the best record for his club team this year.

Both Tang Peng (Hong Kong) and William Henzell (Australia) are seasoned players and have brought great moments for their respective countries.

If Sharath continues to play at this level, it is certain that he will break into the elite players' club.

We've sent the wishes that we had received. Thanks!

Photo courtesy of the ITTF.

Editor

TTFI moving up the ATTU and ITTF ladder

India's clout in the World of Table Tennis is increasing exponentially.

Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) Secretary General, Mr Dhanraj Choudhary, has been re-elected as the Honorary Treasurer of the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) at the General Council Meeting of the Asian body. Former Table Tennis great Cai Zhenhua of China and  Tony Yue of Hong Kong were elected President and secretary general.

It is worth noting that Dhanraj Choudhary was recently elected to the Board of Directors of ITTF at the Paris World Championships venue.

Other TTFI officials who earned terms on the ATTU were TTFI President Mr P C Chaturvedi (elected to General Council as member), TTFI Sr Vice President Mr Rajeev Bodas (nominated as Chairman of the Coaching and Junior Committee).

Ganeshan Neelakant Iyer, who has proven his mettle by conducting several international events as chief referee in India as well as abroad, was nominated to the Technical Committee as a full member.

These developments are very important for Table Tennis in India

Leonardo Mutti on ITTF site

Leonardo Mutti has been profiled on the ITTF site (World Top Table Tennis body). Soumyajit Ghosh of India beat Mutti in straight games at the Qatar Open World Tour Table Tennis tournament at Doha recently.

Editor

Jun Mizutani protests against boosters

World No. 10 Table Tennis player, Jun Mizutani from Japan has raised a protest against modern rubber boosters and is refusing to play World Tour (formerly Pro Tour) tournaments. He said he will continue to avoid such tournaments until the World Table Tennis body, ITTF introduces stricter controls against boosters.

Speed glue was banned a few years ago, but boosters are increasingly being employed by top players.

Editor

Ariel Hsing hopes to retain title at North American Cup

Ariel Hsing of USA will attempt to retain her title at the ITTF-North American Cup Table Tennis Tournament to be held at Mississauga, Canada. Her main rival will be Zhang Mo, whom she beat in the finals last year.

In the Men's section, Pierre-Luc Hinse, Timothy Wang from the United States and André Ho will battle for the honours. Incidentally, all three qualified from the North America zone for the Olympics.

Professional Indian Table Tennis Players

It is interesting to note that there is a growing trend of Table Tennis players from India competing in League matches in foreign countries. For example, Sharath Kamal plays in the elite German Bundesliga. Zubin Kumar and Pathik Mehta play in the Spanish leagues. Soumyajit Ghosh, G Sathiyan, and Harmeet Desai are spending extended periods of time training in Sweden. Some other players spent time training in China. Many other players have played different leagues at various times.

Right now, most of these players do not earn lucrative sums of money, but there is some hope from this year. The ITTF has announced aggressive plans for the Pro Tour with handsome prize money. If the game gets more popular, there is a chance that the leagues will play more money to the participants. This is indeed a good trend.

Do you know of any other professional players?