World Championships Table Tennis (WTTC) Live!

Mouma Das and Poulomi Ghatak are the only players left in the Singles main draw. They both face tough Japanese opponents. Mouma is fighting and it is now 1 games all against Tanioka Ayuka.

Sharath and Madhurika, the others in the main draw lost earlier in the day.

Indians in the main draw at WTTC, Rotterdam

Mouma, Madhurika, and Poulomi made it to the main draw of the World Table Tennis Championships at Rotterdam!

All the Indian Men players in the fray (Abhisek, Soumyadeep, Subhajit, Amalraj) in the qualifiers topped their groups and progressed to the elimination round (before main draw), but they could not make it further. Amalraj and Subhajit lost one round before the main draw.

Of course, needless to say, Sharath Kamal is already in the main draw.

Sharath Kamal to lead again

Three men and four women in this old photo will represent India at the WTTC 2011 
Sourav, Pathik (retired), and Neha did not make it this time. The others did.

India's truly international Table Tennis player, Achanta Sharath Kamal will once again lead the squad at the World Championships at Rotterdam. The tournament formally starts from May 8th, 2011.

The Indian team is in China to prepare for the championships.

Full team:

Men: Sharath Kamal, Amalraj Anthony, Soumyadeep Roy, Abhishek Ravichandran and Subhajit Saha

Women: Shamini Kumaresan, Madhurika Patkar, Poloumi Ghatak, Mouma Das and Mamata Prabhu.

World Table Tennis Championships 2011 kicks off

The World TT Championships (WTTC) start on 8th, but the accredition process has begun today (May 5th).

The biggest event of the season with record participation will see the cream of the World Table Tennis scene in action at Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The favourites in almost all categories, China, applied finishing touches to their preparation at the Werner Schlager academy and are all set to dominate the opposition. The event is unlikely to be affected by the withdrawal of leading European stars like Michael Maze and Werner Schlager.

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

Mayor Nutter beaten by an eight year old, but it's no shame

Amy Wang, pony-tailed eight year old toddler, beat the Mayor of PA, during the Trolley Car Table Tennis Club's formal inauguration in East Falls.

The Mayor could score only three points against the kid, who is no pushover. Amy is the US Champion in the under nine category.

The club is already growing in popularity since it's unofficial opening in January. Around 25 TT players compete during the week. Table Tennis lessons, tournaments, and private parties are the offerings made at the club.

Oh Sang Eun wins the Spanish Open Table Tennis Tournament

"Beautiful backhand" Oh Sang Eun won the Spanish Open Pro Tour at Almeria, Spain. He beat top seed Vladimir Samsonov in impressive fashion in the finals 4-1.

Samsonov, who leads in their head to head meetings so far, could not produce his usual magic to the contest. Oh Sang seemed to be determined to take one of the rare opportunities to win a prestigious Pro Tour title.

In an earlier round, Lee Jung Woo beat team-mate and second seed Joo Se Hyuk 4-0(!) in the quarterfinals, which was a major upset and that too with a lop-sided score. Another notable achievement was that of Christophe Legout, the elegant veteran French player, who reached the quarter-finals. Earlier, India's Sharath Kamal bowed out in the 2nd round of the main draw.

Sharath to face qualifier in round 1

India's pride and joy of Table Tennis, Sharath Kamal, will open his campaign at the Spanish Open against a qualifier. Sharath is seeded in the 9-16 bracket.

There are some dangerous floaters in the qualifying groups such as Alexander Shibaev, the youth in great form, or Keinath Thomas, Sharath's nemesis (finalist at the US Open where Sharath won after a hard fight).

If Sharath is lucky to reach the quarter-finals, he will face the world's premier chopper, Joo Se Hyuk (2nd seed).

Sadly, it appears that none of the Indian players, barring Sharath have made an appearance at the tournament. India had given 13 entries to the pro tour tourney.

Wang Hao is No. 1 again

Chinese ace, Wang Hao is back at the No. 1 spot after being away for a few months. He displaced Timo Boll in the April World rankings.

Ma Long was the first person to displace Wang Hao, back in 2009. Since then, Ma Long has slipped to the 5th spot. In the April list, Ma Lin and Zhang Jike have moved up one place each. Most of the other top players have retained their rankings.

India's Sharath Kamal is placed at the 51st spot. He lost some bonus points by skipping the Qatar and the Dubai Pro Tour events.

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.