http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4g0hXm-6z4

Winner of the Girls’ Singles event at the Volkswagen World Junior Championships just over two months ago in the Indian city of Hyderabad, China’s Zhu Yuling 朱雨玲 was the player to cause the one surprise in the Women’s Singles quarter-finals at the ITTF 2013 World Tour Kuwait Open on Sunday 17th February.

She beat 25 year old Li Xiaoxia,李晓霞 the reigning Olympic and World champion in six games (11-13, 11-7, 9-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9) to secure her place in the penultimate round.

Success over the Olympic champion is surely a cause for unbridled rejoicing for an 18 year old, a win to remember; for Zhu Yuling 朱雨玲it was just another day at the office. There was no twinkle of emotion, just a shake of the hands with opponent and officials, followed by a quiet walk to the tiered seating.

Her doubles 陈梦/朱雨玲 ended in SF (defeated by石川佳纯/森园美咲 and then got disqualified because her partner’s paddle was illegal upon post game examination).

Have a great Family Day tomorrow and if you are bored, watch Kuwait Open singles SF and Final for doubles (?) on ittf. (matches mentioned above are already there now). Select Kuwait Open video from 7.30 am GMT on 2/18

http://www.ittf.com/ittv/

Great retrieving by the world’s best female choppers Kim Kyung Ah / Park Mi Young (KOR) against Guo Yan / Ding Ning (CHN); women’s doubles semi-final, 2009 World Table Tennis Championships, Yokohama; China wins 4-1 (this Youtube clip has been viewed by over 1 million viewers and probably you as well)

While this might have taken place in 2009, it is a good reminder that doubles are crucial games (often neglected) in tourney and having rallies like 40+ strokes indicates how disciplined the Chinese and Korean players  have been and how tight and fluid are the skill sets. Enjoy.

中国男乒“直通巴黎”队内循环赛告一段落。经过15日至19日的厮杀，现世界排名第一的许昕、2012世界杯冠军马龙、雅典奥运冠军陈玘、“大满贯”张继科4人依次晋级决赛。

“直通巴黎”选拔赛是为选出中国参加2013巴黎世乒赛男子单打的5名选手。根据赛制，许昕等4人将与此前由大众“网络票选”出的马琳、王皓、郝帅3人，以及教练组推荐的2人(春节后公布人选)， 一起进行“9选5”的终极决赛。

“我们又新创了赛制”，眼带血丝的中国男乒主帅刘国梁对中新社记者说。新赛程的最大特点是“使比赛更激烈，使结果更具有悬念”。

首先是分组方式——9人分成3组，世界排名靠后的选手及年轻的选手可以自主挑选组别，加大他们胜出的砝码。

其次是不再计算“小分”——小组第一必须同时战胜同组两人，一旦3人形成“连环套”，必须再打小循环。

“小循环是‘一局定胜负’，如果单局较量后3人还是互有胜负，那么就采用5分制，最后干脆从10平开始计分，简直是‘一球定胜负’”，男乒教练李晓东向中新社记者解释。

被戏称为“血战到底”的新赛制主要出自刘国梁之手，“刘指太聪明了”，李晓东说。

Read On …..

The search is on for 15,000 volunteers; the Glasgow 2014 volunteer application programme was launched officially at the city�s Central Railway Station on Monday 14th January 2013.

Often referred to as the Friendly Games, the quadrennial multi-sport event was first held in 1930; table tennis was introduced in Manchester in 2002 and is one of the 17 sports in the eleven days of competition, which starts on Wednesday 23rd July and concludes on Sunday 3rd August 2014. The first Commonwealth Games was held in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada where 11 countries sent 400 athletes in 6 sports and 59 events (no table tennis until 2002 !)

No Experience Necessary No previous Games experience is necessary; the search is for helpful, friendly volunteers who will be 16 years of age by the close of applications on Thursday 28th February 2013.
Volunteers must be available to work for at least eight days of the Games and be available for six days prior for training.

Special Skills In addition, volunteers with a range of specialist skills including medical staff, drivers and people with specific sports expertise are required.
Applications may be made on-line with immediate effect.
Details cam be found in this link.

How Canada has done in Commonwealth Table Tennis the past?:
The glory dates were in 1991 & 1994 when Hong Kong was still competing in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship. Johnny Huang (黄文冠) of Toronto won MS, MD & MX triple crown in 1994.
See Johnny played Jan Ove Waldner in 1/16 final in Olympic 1996 where Johnny won 3 – 1 against the higher ranked world legion before succumbing to eventual champ – Liu 劉國梁


Then, see him played against Liu Guoliang (劉國梁 ) in a battle between short pimples shake hand versus penholder (when the game was still 21 points) in 1996 Atlanta Olympic QF.
http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19835
Of note: Waldner played Liu in 2000 Olympic QF where Liu prevailed and won bronze eventually. Liu was MS & MD double crown winner 4 years earlier.

http://www.mississauga.com/mississauga/article/885780
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Table_Tennis_Championships

Training schedule: Tuesday 7 – 9 PM at CCTTA

video clip on interview and rally with Victor’s coach
She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English

1. Kevin Kwok from LSC already established contact with me at their Annual Count Down Banquet for this year’s Inter School, which they plan to host. Chris had reported this earlier since he plays at CCTTA. They are aiming at 8 schools.

2. David is trying to get some idea when Chu Kuen will be available for our group lesson (an idea from last November) and he will confirm back for the 6 players interested.

3. If the tourney format is going to be 群歐 (field as many players as possible), we do need every one to be in  great game shape in a few months time.

LSC and Ying Wah are formidable opponents. I think we do not want to be left out in the prize presentation podium.

Please try to come amidst your busy schedule even if just for the sake of 吹水 and some exercise !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RhiSReRizk&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

Food for thought:

http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2012-12-25/13256352297.shtml

See the last 3 remaining pen holders (Wang Hao, Xu Xian & Ma Lin) in GAC Year End World Tour Grand Final tourney Semi Final by selecting the tourney on the left hand side of video section:

日前，国际乒联职业巡回赛总决赛在杭州落幕，马琳[微博]、王皓、许昕三员直拍选手代表国乒出战，最终许昕连克两位老大哥夺得男单冠军头衔。 赛后许昕除了谈到夺冠后的心情，还特意说了一句话：“我肩上担负着传承直拍打法的重任。现在直拍打法的专业选手非常少，如果我打不出来，这种打法在中国男队可能就要灭绝了。”

http://www.ittf.com/ittv/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OipIDNqHqt0&feature=g-high-rec
14.55 minutes of true action packed entertainment, very recently uploaded. Take a look at the footwork and the latitude these players covered.

1. We may not have the energy but we can certainly still keep moving.
2. You don’t win a point by giving up or refuse to take any opportunity to be offensive (while on defensive)
3. It’s winter, we better warm up (with plenty of stretching) adequately before we get in these strenuous exercises.