Indian teams for Kuwait and Qatar World Tour Table Tennis tournaments

Shamini and Soumyajit. Photo by thehindu.com

A 13 member squad will embark on a tour to the Kuwait and Qatar World Tour Table Tennis tournaments. Of these, Poulomi will not play at Kuwait. The two tournaments are of premium level on the World Table Tennis stage. This can be gauged by the fact that several of the top 10 players in the World are participating and some former Pro Tour winners have to actually play qualifying rounds!

Indian players and their world rankings.


1     GHOSH Soumyajit   175    
2     ACHANTA Sharath Kamal   71
3     AGGARWAL Neha  
4     DAS Ankita     242
5     ROY Soumyadeep 338
6     SHETTY Sanil  360
7     KUMARESAN Shamini 245
8     SAHASRABUDHE Pooja 528    
9     DESAI Harmeet   IND 282
10     KUMAR Jubin   IND 493    
11     GHATAK Poulomi 196
12     PATKAR Madhurika
13     PAUL Mousumi 434

2013 US Table Tennis team trials

Lily Zhang and Timothy Wang finished No. 1 in the Men's and Women's section of the US Team Table Tennis trials at San Jose, California. While Lily won all her matches, Timothy lost just one. The top five in each category qualify for the World Table Tennis Championships 2013 to be held at Paris.




Women's Final Placement

1. Zhang, Lily (ICC) 11-0
2. Wu, Erica S. (Gao Jun TTC) 10-1
3. Hsing, Ariel (iTable Tennis) 9-2
4. Jha, Prachi (WCTTA) 8-3 
5. Lin, Tina (Lily Yip TTC) 6-5 
6. Guan, Angela (ICC) 6-5 
7. Jiang, Diane (iTable Tennis) 3-8 
8. Li, Joy (XTTS) 3-8
9. Ma, Lucy (Seattle Pacific TTC) 3-8 
10. Chu, Isabel (WCTTA) 3-8
11. Leitman, Marina (TopSpin) 3-8
12. Malek, Amanda (Power Pong) 1-10 

Men's Final Placement

1. Wang, Timothy (ICC) 10-1 
2. Zhang, Yahao (TWUTTC) 9-2
3. Nguyen, Khoa Dinh (TopSpin) 9-2
4. Li, Peter (iTable Tennis) 7-4
5. Butler, Jim (Houston TTC) 7-4
6. Hazinski, Mark (TWUTTC) 6-5 
7. Dubina, Samson David (Strongsville TT) 5-6
8. Jha, Kanak (WCTTA) 3-8 
9. Chodri, Kunal (WCTTA) 3-8 
10. Cretu, Razvan (TWUTTC) 3-8

Zhuang Zedong of Ping Pong diplomacy fame, dies

Zhuang Zedong, one of the heroes of the famous "Ping Pong diplomacy" between the United States and China, died on Sunday. He was 72. Zedong was battling against Cancer for almost five years.

Zedong took the first step towards the eventual Ping Pong diplomacy situation one day at the Nagoya World Table Tennis Championships in 1971 by offering a gift to Glenn Cowan of the USA, who had missed the official bus. The gesture was photographed, and eventually led to President Nixon's visit to China. Before this, the American team was invited to China for a Ping Pong match. All this helped thaw relationship between China and US during the cold war period.

Zedong was married to a Japanese woman in the late 1980s.

Top ranked Ping Pong players in New York

Damien Provost: Photo - www.leprogres.fr

The strongest Table Tennis players in New York are the following:

Top 10 Open

Provost, Damien     2670
Liu, Juan         2641
Wang, Chen         2624
Majekodunmi, Yinka     2611
Gao, YanJun         2578
Landers, Michael     2567
Lee, Sang Mook         2556
Wang, Max Qinmin     2556
Manousoff, Stefan John     2552
Oyebode, Michael     2552

Massimo Constantini likely to come back as head coach of Indian Table Tennis team

Constantini, an ex-Italian International player, is a leading candidate to become the head coach of the Indian Table Tennis contingent. Incidentally, he coached the Indian team for about a year and a half until late 2010, when he moved to train students of Rajul Sheth's ICC at Milpitas California.

India's latest coach, Leszek Kucharski was discontinued, due to issues as per rumors.

The Secretary General of TTFI, the national body, informed media that he has sought Sharath Kamal's opinion and also informed Sports Authority of India.

Constantini's salary will be approximately $ 6000 per month. His earlier stints were with the Italian Men's team and also players in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Table Tennis player profile Zubin Taraporewala, National level player

Name: Zubin Taraporewalla

Date of Birth: 25/09/1991

Club: Pro TT Academy

Coaches/Trainers: Mahendra Chiplunkar, Raju Sawant

TT Idol: None. Just good points from every player

Ambition: To be in the top 10 of India

Achievements:
Bronze medal in State Ranking Winner in Men's singles (2010), Selected for Maharashtra to represent State in Nationals, All India Inter-University Bronze medal, and many others.

Best win (over a player):
Defeated Anirban Roy Chowdhary this year in Inter Institutionals and played 1st Mens Main draw 2nd round at the National level.

Best performance in a tournament: Won State Men's title at Nagpur in 2010 and Youth finalist.

Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships

The 74th edition of the Junior and Youth Nationals kick off in Indore, Madhya Pradesh today at the Abhay Prashal Indoor stadium. 30 States are participating in the season ending tournament. The tournament marks the end of the Indian Table Tennis season.

Apart from the star events, that is, singles events in four age groups, there will be heavy competition in the team events. The winners stand to gain valuable points and also attractive cash prizes.

Star youth players, Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai will not be participating as they are in a Swedish training camp.

The defending champions are Abhishek Yadav and Reeth Rishya in the Junior boys and girls events, while Ankita Das and Soumyajit Ghosh won the Youth titles last year.

Hingham High School Ping Pong tournament

Hingham High School, in association with SADD, Student Council and TPO, conducted their first Table Tennis tournament. The tournament was held in the school cafeteria and was a great success. The winners were given prizes and the participants included both, the students and the staff.

Parents of the students donated Ping Pong tables and students drove the tables to and back from school.

Arsenal Table Tennis?

Yes, they sponsor Table Tennis for interested players. The Arsenal club usually takes responsibility for groups/organizations.

Fang Bo upsets all to win Austrian Open World Tour Table Tennis title

Photo: Fang Bo courtesy of the ITTF

Fang Bo threw the World rankings into the bin and beat much more famous names to wrest the Austrian Open Table Tennis title at Wels, Austria.

In the finals, he beat Hao Shuai 11-8, 9-11, 2-11, 11-6, 11-8, and 11-8.

Fang made his intentions clear when he won the first set and made a good start in the contest, eventually winning it 11-8. The highlight of this game was Fang Bo's return of service - backhand open with topspin even from the right hand corner. Hao Shuai retaliated by winning the second 11-9, thus tying the match at 1-1. Shuai seemed to nail home the point that he is the more experienced by hammering the youngster 11-2. However, the determined Fang Bo, who has created waves in the last 2-3 years, did not give up, he won the next set 11-6 and tied the match 2-2, thus promising exciting fare in the games to come.

Shuai battled and tried to make a mark in the fifth game, but by now Fang Bo had not only overcome nerves in such an important final as the World Tour Table Tennis tournament, but he also found a consistent rhythm. Fang won it 11-8. Just when it appeared that Hao Shuai will make a mighty attempt to tie the match at 3-3, Fang played with maturity to end the match at 4-2 and not let it slip into a decider, where experience would have been a factor.

Incidentally, Hao Shuai, who is one of the main players in the second rung Chinese line-up, beat giant killer Taku Takakiwa effortlessly, 4-0. Takakiwa had beaten World and Olympic Champion Zhang Jike in the previous round.

Fang Bo had beaten seasoned Chuang Chih-Yuan in five sets for a facile victory in the semi-finals   12-10,11-6,11-13,11-3,11-5. Fang lost just one set, that too in a deuce game against the top 10 ranked Chuang.

Zhang Jike beaten by Taku Takakiwa at the Austrian World Tour Table Tennis tournament

The World and Olympic Champion, Zhang Jike of China was sensationally beaten by the much lesser known Taku Takakiwa in the Quarterfinals at the Austrian Open at Wels. Takakiwa won 10-12, 11-9, 6-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 13-11.

Zhang Jike seemed to be complacent even in the later stages of this match. You may recall that he already faced serious problems against Takakiwa's team-mate, Kenta Matsudaira, where it took him a decider to win. No doubt that Takakiwa took some useful notes from that match.

Watch the video of Zhang Jike vs Taku Takakiwa by TableTennisEvents here:


The Japanese player is a regular on the World Tour circut, but had nothing better than a semi-final showing in earlier World Tour or Pro Tour Table Tennis events. He employed a mix of unconventional blocks, loops, and aggression to win and reach the semi-finals, where he takes on another Chinese, Hao Shuai. Shuai has done very well this season internationally and also in the Chinese Table Tennis league. In the other semi-final, second seed Chuang Chih-Yuan plays Chinese young talent Fang Bo, who has been given an opportunity to prove his mettle on the international circuit.

Editor

England plays Spain Table Tennis match at Gateshead

The English and Spanish Women's teams square off at Gateshead in the qualification tie for the European championships. Kelly Sibley, Joanna Parker, Hannah Hicks (Coach Alan cooke), are expected to take on Shen Yanfei, Sara Ramirez and Galia Dvorak.

The venue is the Gateshead Leisure Centre and the date is 29 January. There are concessions on the ticket price for kids and for those over 60.

Editor

SPiN Vail Ping Pong tournament Part 2

Photo courtesy sneakpeakvail.com

The second edition of SPiN Vail will be held at the popular Colorado ski resort this Saturday. Anyone can participate. This year, the organizers have promised that the participants will get more time on the table compared to last year. The tournament is a fund raiser for Vail Symposium.

The tournament will have competitions in both singles and doubles and matches will be best of threes and then followed by round robin style of play. The tournament promises good prizes for winners.

SPiN Vail is modeled after SPiN Galactic, a chain of social Table Tennis clubs, where people meet, socialize, and play.

Sibu Table Tennis or Ping Pong

Temenggong Vincent Lau, the President of the Sibu Ping Pong Association is egging youngsters to put in more hard work and innovation to improve at Table Tennis.

It can be recalled that the Sibu team won 3 golds and Kuching won 15 golds at the State Championships.

Mr. Lau said that they are trying to find a Chinese Table Tennis coach, but he emphasized that youngsters themselves should try to find solutions on their own. Dr Clement Ting lauded players who also did well in academics.

Polkaroo shows Ping Pong skills

The spectacular and enigmatic Polkaroo was seen at a challenge playing Table Tennis!

Paralympic Table Tennis player

An action photo of a Paralympic Table Tennis player.

Photo courtesy londontown.com

TTFI supports Ajay Chautala after he is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment

The Table Tennis Federation of India supported it's President and Haryana MLA, Ajay Chautala, who was sentenced by a CBI court for 10 years imprisonment. The court ruled that Chautala was involved in a teacher's recruitment scam.

The federation said that Chautala did not plan to stand for re-election. TTFI has recently amended their constitution to adhere to the Sports Code by its Ministry.

Yorkshire Table Tennis Association

Chairman Bevan Walker
Telephone ********* (Contact Editor, www.TableTennisBug.com)

General Secretary Richard Hudson

Note: This information was retrieved in January 2013. There are no dates on the Web site. Please contact editor@tabletennisbug.com for latest information.

Leagues:

Dewsbury Table Tennis Centre
Heckmondwike Table Tennis Centre, Cemetery Road, Heckmondwike. WF16 9ED

Tel: 01924 403701

Huddersfield

Hudawi Table Tennis Centre
Great Northern Street, Huddersfield

West Somerset Table Tennis league fixtures

Roys Boys v Gnomads A    Bampton Village Hall  
Mon 28/01/2013
    
Mikes Muppets v Stogumber A    Alcombe Village Hall  
Tue 29/01/2013    

Swifts v Basement Dwellers    The Lawns  
Tue 29/01/2013    

Mishits v Wiveliscombe    West Quantoxhead Village  
Wed 30/01/2013    

Ping Pong tournaments in January Week 4 2013

Here are the main Table Tennis tournaments this weekend:

January Open
Davison   
MI   
1/26/2013

Minnesota State Championships    
Eden Prarie   
MN   
1/26/2013 - 1/27/2013

Maryland Giant Round Robin    
Eldersburg   
MD   
1/26/2013

Westchester 2013 January Open    
Pleasantville   
NY   
1/26/2013 - 1/27/2013

Winter 2012/2013 Sooner State Games    
Oklahoma City   
OK   
1/26/2013

ITTF World Tour Austrian Open Major Series at Wels, Austria

The ITTF World Tour Austrian Open Major Series starts at Wels, Austria and will run from Jan 23 to Jan 27. The top seed is World and Olympic Champion Zhang Jike. Chuang Chih Yuan is the second after many Table Tennis stars withdrew.

Serena and Venus playing Ping Pong

The Williams sisters are increasingly in the spot light playing not Lawn Tennis, but Table Tennis!

Photo courtesy Getty images.

You can also watch them playing in an IPhone ad. Quite awesome!

Ping Pong playing cat

Watch this amazing video of a cat playing Table Tennis on Youtube by sugarvirals.

Anirban Ghosh and Sagarika Mukherjee win National titles

Anirban Ghosh and Sagarika Mukherjee won the Sub junior boys and girls titles at the Cadet and Sub Junior National Championships at Gandhidham.

Anirban beat Arjun Ghosh 4-0 while Sagarika beat Harsha Vardhini 4-1 in the finals. Earlier, Ashwin Subramanian and Prapti Sen won the Cadet Boys and Girls titles.

It is worth noting that Anirban Ghosh upset many senior players and actually reached the semi-finals of a Zonal national level Table Tennis tournament.

Table Tennis donations - Welling School and Rushcroft College receive Table Tennis equipment

Photo courtesy etta.co.uk

Welling School, Elsa Road, Greater London, UK and Rushcroft Sports College have received quality Table Tennis tables from Jack Petchey Foundation and the England Table Tennis Association. The school and College students have taken to the game in a big way as a result of this.

The London Olympics has already created excitement and Table Tennis was one of the most popular sports at the games. Students compete among themselves and with other clubs and do not shy away from even challenging their teachers!

Oakley B beat Aldworth in Basingstoke and District Table Tennis match

Oakley B beat Aldworth D 9-1 in the Basingstoke District Table Tennis league division three as Dave Smith won all his three matches while dropping only a single game. Simon Parker won the only match for Aldworth. He beat Ron Draper 3-1.

Oakley now lead KG C by eight points and have a game to play.

KG C beat Queens I 8-2 and AWE B beat Queens H.

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

West of Scotland Open Table Tennis tournament this weekend

West of Scotland Open Table Tennis tournament from Saturday, 26 January 2013 to Sunday, 27 January 2013.

Venue:
Gorbals Leisure Centre,
275 Ballater Street,
Glasgow,
G5 0PQ

Photo of Gavin Rumgay courtesy wosttl.org.uk

Cazuo Matsumoto wins Spanish ITTF World Tour tournament

Cazuo Matsumoto of Brazil beat Christophe Legout of France 11-7, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-5 to win the Spanish Leg of the World Tour Table Tennis tournaments. The top seed of the tournament was 50 year old He Zhi Wen. The tournament was held at Almeria, Spain.

Table Tennis tournament in Lagos, Nigeria

The Toyin Okenla-Ojeaga Junior Table Tennis Championship started last weekend. Six education districts are participating. The Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development is supporting the event and Wahid Oshodi is the frontman for them. John Peters is the Technical Director of the tournament.