Liu Shiwen wins World Table Tennis Cup; equals record held by Zhang Yining and Wang Nan

Liu Shiwen won the World Women's Cup of Table Tennis at Sendai by beating Kasumi Ishikawa of the host nation in straight sets. By winning the title again, she equaled the record that is held by Wang Nan and Zhang Yining.

Shiwen beat Ishikawa in straight sets, in a match that saw Ishikawa overawed by the occasion of her first major final.

In one of the most sensational results at the quarter final stage, Petrissa Solja had beaten local superstar, Ai Fukuhara 4-3 coming back from the dead from 0-3 down, and deuce in the fourth.

World Cup Final (Women) Result:

Finals:
Liu Shiwen beat Kasumi Ishikawa 14-12, 11-2, 11-9, 11-2

Semi finals:
Liu Shiwen beat Petrissa Solja 11-8, 12-10, 11-3, 11-3

Kasumi Ishikawa beat Li Jiao 6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6, 15-13, 11-5

Photo courtesy of the ITTF.

Liu Shiwen hopes to maintain winning record at World Cup Table Tennis tournament

Just 22 years old, but already with two World cup Table Tennis tournament titles to her credit, in addition to being the World's No. 1 Woman Table Tennis player.

The World Cup tournament starts on 23 September at Kobe, Japan.

India fights it out in the Asian Table Tennis Championships at Busan

India faced China in the Quarterfinals of the Men's team event at the Asian Table Tennis Championships at Busan, Korea. Amalraj gave a decent fight to Yan An in the third singles.

China fielded a new gen team with Ma Long as the backbone. Sharath lost to Fan Zhendong and Soumyajit to Ma Long.

It is good to see that Indian TT players are consistently meeting world class players. It surely means that progress is being made and they are only being stopped by the best.

Meanwhile, some stand-out performances by Indian women players at the Asian Table Tennis Championships:

Mouma Das put up a spirited fight against World No. 2 Liu Shiwen.
Neha Aggarwal played true to her strength throughout the team event matches.

Ma Long beats Yan An to win Qatar Open World Tour Table Tennis tournament

Ma Long tops! He beat Yan An in a thrilling final. World and Olympic champ, Zhang Jike, retired hurt in an earlier round.

Ding Ning won the women's title beating Liu Shiwen.

(Photo courtesy xinhuanet.com

Editor

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.