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Japan Announces World Championships Line-Up
(Courtesy of Wade Townsend/ITTF)
Once dominating the sport, Japan has not managed to win a World Championship medal in Men's Singles since 1979 and in Women's Singles since 1969. There has been growing pressure to find a way back to the medal podium and the newly announced line-up looks to change the tide.
A press conference was held at the conclusion of the All Japan Championships, as all eyes, ears and cameras turned away from the athletes and to men's coach Yosuke Kurashima and women's coach Mika Baba, as they announced Japan's team for the Leibherr 2017 World Championships.
Japan has one of the largest player pools to draw from for their selections, meaning the announcement of any team always provides some surprises.
The men's squad for singles includes Jun Mizutani, Koki Niwa, Kenta Matsudaira, Yuto Muramatsu and Tomokazu Harimoto.
While the women's lineup for
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ITTF World Tour 2017 Hungarian Open Final Day Review
(Courtesy of ITTF) The first event on the 2017 ITTF World Tour kicked off in Hungary with members of the Chinese National Team, some new and some returning faces, at the foray of the competition. There were some dashing rallies and strong displays of fighting spirit, the perfect way to launch off the world tour for the year.
China's Yan An made the perfect start to his return to the world stage by taking out proceedings over Shang Kun...
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The Women's side was also a Chinese affair with some newer faces entering the event. Chen Xingtong took the women's title on her 5th appearance on the world tour after a fierce encounter with teammate Wen Jia in the final....
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Chen also took out the women's doubles title, while Fang Bo and Zhou Yu excelled in the Men's Doubles giving China a clean sweep of proceedings in Hungary. You can see a final day review of the major showdowns here
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2017 Butterfly West Coast Open
(Courtesy of USATT Events) Feb 18/19 - Livermore, CA - $11,975 Prize Money
CRYSTAL Trophies and Medals to top 4 finishers in ALL Singles events
CRYSTAL Medals to top 3 finishers in ALL Doubles events.
We currently have 156 players coming from the following locations: California (133), Shenyang (5), Georgia (1), Iowa (7), Maryland (1), New Jersey (1), New York (1), Oregon (3), Utah (3) and Washington (1).
So far the tournament entries feature - 2017 Aurora Cup Champion Zhao Zhi Rui of New Jersey, Bob Chen and Tao Wenzhang - winners of the 2016 Joola Teams Tournament, and members of the ShenYang Sports University Table Tennis Team. With 36 tables and over 25 USATT sanctioned events to be held, the field of already over 150 players is sure to keep growing!
Find tournament information, hotel info and more on the event page
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2016 Paralympic Games A Special Memory, Meier Paddles to Rio
(Courtesy of Todd Korth, Associate Editor, Referee)
Competing in the Olympic Games or the Paralympic Games is very much the ultimate goal for an athlete; it is the very same for an official.
Staged from Thursday 8th to Saturday 17th September, Mike Meier of the United States who is no stranger to the limelight, being the umpire featured in the 2012 film "As One" appreciated the offer afforded to be in the hot seat in Rio de Janeiro.
Mike Meier has umpired a number of notable table tennis tournaments around the world, including the 2015 Toronto Parapan American Games, 2014 Tokyo World Team Table Tennis Championships, and 2010 Singapore Inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
But his assignment late last summer to Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Paralympics was perhaps the most intense tournament that he has ever umpired.
"The Rio Paralympics definitely received more worldwide attention than any other tournament I've participated in," said Meier of San Diego. "Because of that...
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Han Xiao Elected Chair of USOC Athletes' Advisory Council
(Courtesy of TeamUSA)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Table tennis athlete Han Xiao was voted chair of the United States Olympic Committee Athletes' Advisory Council during the AAC's quadrennial leadership election, which took place at the council's quarterly meeting in New Orleans on Jan. 21.
A member of the USOC AAC since 2013, Xiao represented Team USA in four world championships and the 2007 Pan American Games. He was a member of the USA Table Tennis board of directors from 2008-16, and served as one of two athlete services coordinators for Team USA at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
Meanwhile, Olympic fencer Cody Mattern (2004) and three-time Paralympic sitting volleyball player Katie Holloway (2008, 2012, 2016) were selected as vice chairs. Rounding out the newly elected six-person at-large leadership group are wrestler Jordan Holm, Paralympic track cyclist Sam Kavanagh (2012) and three-time...
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The Pyramid Rule - And Why You Should Stay Up to the Table
(Courtesy of Table Tennis University)
The pyramid rule is a very useful concept for explaining why it is important to develop a 'close to the table' game.
The concept revolves around the increasing distance between two wide angle balls the further back you go from the table.
The best way to demonstrate this is to feed two balls, one to each corner, consecutively...
1. Close to the table (A) you can move and hit both balls in turn.
2. Then you move back 1-1.5 metres from the table (B). You can get the first ball but have to stretch or play out of balance for the second ball.
3. Finally, move back again to around 2-2.5 metres from the table (C). It becomes very difficult for you to get to the ball.
So why is playing close to the table important?...
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"I Was Amazed" Remembering a Maine Table Tennis Champion
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Courtesy of Dustin Wlodklowski)
USA Table Tennis expresses our heartfelt condolences to the Abdullah Family and the Maine Table Tennis Community for the tragic loss of
Fouad Abdullah
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Sonu Bhatia has played a lot of table tennis since coming to Maine 20 years ago.
But the first time he saw Fouad Abdullah play he knew he was someone special.
"I was amazed initially," said Bhatia. "It felt like I was watching somebody playing on a very high level like on TV."
Bhatia struck up a few conversations with Abdullah and soon after, they decided to team up.
"We stuck together as doubles partners, we won the Maine state championships three years in a row."
Their success in their favorite sport developed into a friendship.
That's why it was so jarring for Bhatia to hear his partner had been killed in a car
crash on Sunday morning.
"I was really shocked," he said. "When I saw the news
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History of USATT - Volume XVIII - Chapter 18
(Courtesy of Tim Boggan)
1991: March Tournaments
There were only a few fiercly contested matches in the early rounds of the 27-entry single elimination Open. Yu-Chong Nam - having adjusted her timing...well, just in time - rallied from two games down to defeat Cleveland's Victor Olusegon. Said her mentor Danny Seemiller, "Yu-Chong didn't seem to be concentrating very well those first two games. She was much too content to just try to push or to block Victor's consistent loops. But then she began serving short and looping and then when she had the opportunity she hit hard and didn't push like she did in those first 2 games."
Said 20-year old Yu-Chong herself after the match, "The ball seems so slow here after my high altitude training in Colorado Springs. Also, maybe I was just a little lazy to start with. I've been trying to fight against that though. If you want to be a good player you have to work at it. At the Olympic Training Center, I have been running..
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2017 WADA Prohibited List
Now in Effect |
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