73rd Inter state and Senior National Table Tennis Championships

The most prestigious tournament of the Indian calendar is here and top players such as Sharath Kamal, Amalraj, Soumyadeep Roy, Mouma Das, Poulami Ghatak, K Shamini are all participating in UP's Lucknow.

Old photo of PSPB team members

Joo Se Hyuk beats World Champion Zhang Jike

Defender Joo Se Hyuk sent shock waves down the Chinese team's spine by beating Zhang Jike in straight sets in the Olympic year at the Hungarian Open Table Tennis World Tour Tournament. Just when the team was grappling with the possibility of not being able to field veterans Ma Lin and Wang Liqin at the Olympics, Jike is giving some sleepless nights to the team management.

Joo won 11-5,11-7,11-7,11-4.

Ma Lin continued his slide by losing to Xu Xin in straight sets. Ma Long survived a huge onslaught by Chen Qi and won in extra points in the decider. 
In the Quarter affected by the withdrawal of Wang Hao, Adrian Crisan of Romania made the most of it by beating Chen Weixing to advance to a rare semi-final at this level. He faces Joo, who will not let such an opportunity of reaching the finals slip by.

Sharath gives Ma Lin a scare

Indian Table Tennis ace, A Sharath Kamal gave TT legend Ma Lin a run for his money at the Hungarian Open World Tour (formerly called Pro Tour) event.

In the 2nd round of the main draw, Ma Lin prevailed 4-1 (11-4,5-11,11-7,16-14,11-9). Sharath had great chances to equal the match at 2-2 but unfortunately lost the fourth game after an extended duel. 


Earlier, in the first round, Sharath squeaked past England's Paul Drinkhall after being 0-3 down. He eventually won 4-3, in a decider that went all the way to 13-11.

Cornilleau All Weather Bat

Don't worry if you leave this bat outside in the rain. It is an all weather bat!

Winners of the Junior and Youth National Championships 2012 at Siliguri

Winners of this year's Youth and Junior National titles:
Junior girls: Reeth Rishya
Junior boys: Abhishek Yadav
Youth girls: Ankita Das
Youth boys: Soumyajit Ghosh

Please note that the photos are from the previous year. Incidentally three out of the four retained their crowns.

Table Tennis Player of the Year 2011 (India) Anthony Amalraj

A Amalraj stands clear as the player of the year 2011 in Indian Table Tennis.

After a quarter final loss in the first zonals, he swept almost everything at stake, even beating the formidable Sharath Kamal at the Inter Institutionals. He beat his closest rivals with ease and lost very few games while doing so.

His profile on his agency's Web site:
www.ttproagency.com

- Style of Playing: Right Handed, All Round Style of Playing

- Hobbies: Movies, Music

- Favorite Music Band: World Music

- Favorite Food: Chicken Briyani

- Favorite City/Country: USA

TABLE TENNIS EQUIPMENT:

- Blade: TIBHAR H39

- Forehand Rubber: BUTTERFLY Tenergy 05 2.1

- Backhand Rubber: BUTTERFLY Tenergy 64 2.1

BEST RESULTS:

- Commonwealth Games Bronze Medal

NBA star Blake Griffin Ping Pong Professional try out

The 6'10" Clippers star, Blake Griffin could not make great progress at Table Tennis when he was on his extended break.

Watch him take on a model in heels and get thrashed. His huge height, quick feet, and reach didn't help much.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/972878-blake-griffin-ping-pong-video-watch-clippers-star-show-how-bad-he-needs-hoops

Grot Table Tennis

Michael Dashow Art

Bobby Fischer, the ultimate enigmatic Chess genius excelled at Table Tennis

Fischer played table tennis the way he played chess: fiercely, ferociously, going for his opponent's jugular. He was a killer, a remorseless, conscienceless, ice-blooded castrator...' wrote Marty 'The Needle' Reisman in his autobiography The Money Player - The Confessions of America's Greatest Table Tennis Champion and Hustler.

From kenilworthchessclub.org:

Both chess and table tennis are played within the confines of a physical space that you can grasp completely within your field of vision.  There is nothing hidden in either game.  Yet, paradoxically, in order to play both successfully you need to grasp the image of the board or the table in your mind so that you actually have a feel for where the corners are.  In chess we call this "board vision," and table tennis definitely has its "table vision."

Awesome Table Tennis facility in a salt mine

The Turda Salt Mine has amazing recreation facilities including Table Tennis under beautiful lights! One can spend a day having fun and still not cover them all!

Turda is near the town of Cluj. The entertainment facilities include a ferris wheel, a collection of children’s playground toys, a mini-golf course, a set of bowling lanes, several pool tables, a number of ping pong tables, and a small amphitheater, and so on.

So, is this some kind of a large scale recycling?

Editor