Sharath advances to the Round of 32

A Sharath Kamal of PSPB beat Tanmay Dutta of Mah B to reach the second round of the main draw at the Senior National Table Tennis Championships at Kolkata. Sharath earned a fairly easy 4-0 win.

72nd Senior Nationals and Inter State Table Tennis Championships

The Nationals are on at Kolkata after a long gap. One of the clear memories is of the State's own Arup Basak winning the crown.

Currently, the Team events are being played.

Werner Schlager academy opens

Austria's legend and the 2003 World Champion, Werner Schlager opened his academy. It is aptly named Werner Schlager Academy (WSA) and is located in Schwechat on the outskirts of Vienna.

The complex, Multiversum, has two halls; one dedicated to table tennis and the other to various events.

Over 43 million Euros have gone into making this world class facility. It is funded by the Austrian Government and the Schwechat Municipality.

Celebrity Table Tennis Player of the Day: Anna Kournikova

Anna getting ready to serve up a fight

Celebrity Picture of the Day: Wayne Rooney

Rooney executes a backhand push

Photo courtesy Steve Grant

We all know that Rooney is good with a bigger ball with his feet. He does seem to handle a smaller one with the hands pretty well.

Sirisena and Ishara win title at Sri Lanka National Table Tennis Championships

Ishara Madurangi of Sri Lanka Air Force won her fourth National Table Tennis title at Mount Lavinia. In the Men's singles, Rohan Sirisena beat Dinesh Deshappriya to bag the title. Later, they both combined to win the Mixed doubles title. Ishara also won the women's doubles title, thus ending the tournament with a brilliant triple crown. 

Men's Singles
Rohan Sirisena (Sri Lanka Air Force) beat Dinesh Deshappriya ( Sri Lanka Navy) 11/04, 10/12, 10/12, 11/03, 11/05, 11/08

Women’s Singles
Ishara Madurangi (Sri Lanka Air Force) beat Nuwani Navodya (Dharmasoka – Ambalangoda) 12/10, 11/06, 08/11, 11/03, 06/11, 10/12,11/08

Picture of the Day: Brian Lara and Table Tennis

We already know Sachin Tendulkar plays Table Tennis. Where there is Sachin, can Lara be far behind?

Brian Lara hints at his Table Tennis intentions. What do you think of the grip? Is it good?

Amalraj Anthony in the Slovenian Table Tennis League

Did you know that the second highest Internationally ranked Indian Table Tennis player competes in the Slovenian league?  
The top players there are Sereda, Klasic, Marek and a generous sprinkling of Chinese (common in almost all top Table Tennis leagues).

Current Standings

1.	Amalraj Anthony	MSK Malacky A	8	19	19	0	57 : 8	100,00 %
2.	Klásek Marek	Stavoimpex Holíč A	8	15	15	0	45 : 5	100,00 %
3.	Wang Yang	Stavoimpex Holíč A	7	12	12	0	36 : 6	100,00 %
4.	Mrkvička Radek	Stavoimpex Holíč A	10	19	18	1	55 : 6	94,74 %
5.	Bai He	ŠKST Bratislava A	8	17	16	1	48 : 9	94,12 %
6.	Gumáň Martin	ŠKST Bratislava A	6	12	11	1	34 : 8	91,67 %
7.	Krkoška Peter	ŠKST Bratislava A	6	12	11	1	35 : 10	91,67 %
8.	Palček Martin	Stavoimpex Holíč A	7	12	11	1	35 : 10	91,67 %
9.	Illáš Erik	SK SATEX Int. A	9	21	18	3	56 : 16	85,71 %
10.	Jaslovský Martin	SK SATEX Int. A	10	22	18	4	57 : 23	81,82 %

Player Profile: India's top Defense Player - R Abishek

NAME                              :	R.ABISHEK
DATE OF BIRTH               :	29th December, 1987
FATHER’S NAME              :	P.J.RAVICHANRAN
MOTHER’S NAME             :	USHA
SPORT                             :	Table Tennis
PRACTISING CENTRE       :	Lord’s Table Tennis Academy, Chennai
EDUCATION                     :	B.Com

ACHIEVEMENTS:
COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 – BRONZE MEDAL – TEAM
CURRENT WORLD RANK  - 231
ITTF PRO TOUR HARMONY CHINA OPEN, 2010

• ENTERED MAIN DRAW ROUND 1 BY OVERCOMING WORLD NO. 152 & 229 IN THE GROUP STAGE

ITTF PRO TOUR EGYPT OPEN, CAIRO, 2010

• ENTERED MAIN DRAW ROUND 1 AND BEAT WORLD NO. 394 & 573 IN THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS

ITTF PRO TOUR INDIAN OPEN, NEW DELHI, 2010
ENTERED MAIN DRAW ROUND 1 BY BEATING 3 HIGHER WORLD RANKED PLAYERS (WORLD NO. 232, 354 & 650) IN THE GROUP STAGE.

US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, 2010
ENTERED MAIN DRAW ROUND 1 BEATING WORLD NO. 423 IN THE GROUP STAGE

ITTF PRO TOUR KUWAIT OPEN, KUWAIT CITY, 2010
ITTF PRO TOUR GERMAN OPEN, BERLIN, 2010
3RD WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, LINZ, AUSTRIA, 2005
FINISHED AS JUNIOR WORLD RANK 60 FOR THE YEAR 2005
11TH ASIAN JUNIOR T.T CHAMPIONSHIPS, NEW DELHI, INDIA, 2005
11TH SOUTH ASIAN JUNIOR T.T CHAMPIONSHIPS (SAF), NEW DELHI, INDIA, 2005
GOLD     - TEAM EVENTS
SILVER   - INDIVIDUALS
BRONZE - MIXED DOUBLES

10TH SOUTH ASIAN JUNIOR T.T CHAMPIONSHIPS (SAF), NEW DELHI, INDIA, 2004
GOLD     -  INDIVIDUALS & TEAMS
BRONZE -  MIXED DOUBLES

CURRENT NATIONAL RANK IN MEN- NO.2
2009-10 : NATIONAL RANK NO.7 IN MEN
2007-08: NATIONAL RANK NO.1 IN U-21
2003-04 : JUNIORS NATIONAL RANK NO 2
2003-04 : NATIONAL CHAMPION IN DOUBLES

Celebrities who play Table Tennis

Sachin sharing your passion

We all know that Table Tennis is a hugely popular sport, played in over 200 countries around the world. Did you know that Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Rushdie, Vladimir Putin, Prince Charles, Bill Clinton, Hu Jintao and many others share this passion?

We will share some names and photographs on this Web site.

• Sachin Tendulkar (again)
• Salman Rushdie - Famous Author
• Shirley Temple - Famous Actress
• Susan Sarandon - Actress (Big one - Co-owner of SPiN, New York TT and Social Club. Thanks Sushrut!)
• David Cameron - Prime Minister of England
• Goh Chok Tong - Former Prime Minister of Singapore
• Lee Kuan Yew- Former Prime Minister Singapore
• Tony Blair - Prime Minister of United Kingdom
• Camilla Parker Bowles - Duchess of Cornwall
• Prince Charles of Britain
• George H.W. Bush
• Felipe Calderon - President of Mexico
• Bill & Hillary Clinton - President and First Lady US (1993-2001)
• Hu Jintao - Chinese president
• Richard Nixon - Ex US President
• Göran Persson - Former Prime Minister of Sweden