05/18/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Crowned World champion in Rotterdam in 2011, the two year reign of Ding Ning came to an end on the afternoon of Saturday 18th May 2013 in the Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy.

She was beaten by Chinese National Team compatriot, Li Xiaoxia in six games (8-11, 11-4, 4-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8).

The result is a reversal of two years earlier in Rotterdam when they met in the final, the same as in 2012 when they crossed swords in the Olympic Games gold medal contest in London.

 05/18/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Elected President of the International Table Tennis Federation in Eindhoven in 1999; at the Annual General Meeting, staged at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris on Wednesday 15th May 2013, Adham Sharara was re-elected to office for a further years.

The term of office is four years and it will be his concluding term of office.

He has indicated he will not stand for election in 2017.

 05/18/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Tears streamed down the face of Kim Jong; Kim Hyok Bong fought to hold his emotions in check as the national anthem played and the flag of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was raised in their honour in the late afternoon of Saturday 18th May 2013 at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris.

They had created history by becoming both the first ever pairing from their country to appear in a Mixed Doubles final at a World Championships.

Moreover, they became the first pair to win the title and only the second from their country to reserve the top step of the podium; the only other occasion of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea securing a title at a World Championships was in Calcutta in 1975 and in Birmingham in 1977.

 05/18/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Outstanding in the quarter-finals, the Chinese Taipei duo of Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan continued their good form at the semi-final stage of the Men’s Doubles event at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris on Saturday 18th May 2013.

In the round of the last eight pairs, they had beaten the Japanese partnership of Kazuhiro Chan and Kenj Matsudaira by the very narrowest of margins, having saved one match point in the sixth game (11-13, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9)

One round later in the quarter-finals, there was no need to save match points, no dramatic recoveries; simply there was an air of self-belief.

 05/18/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Defeat for China earlier in the day in the Mixed Doubles semi-finals at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris on Saturday 18th May 2013 but soon after there was no hiccup at the quarter-final stage of the Women’s Singles event.

Ding Ning, Li Xiaoxia, Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling, all emerged successful with Zhu Yuling being one player to cause a surprise.

Matters started with Ding Ning, the no.1 seed, setting the example. She beat DPR Korea’s Ri Myong Sun (11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4,11-6) whilst on the adjacent table Li Xiaoxia, the no.3 seed, won the all-Chinese duel, she overcame Wu Yang (14-12, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7).

 05/18/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Ten years ago it happened and it has never happened since; at the LIEBHERR World Championships staged in Paris in 2003, Austria’s Werner Schlager beat Korea’s Joo Saehyuk in the Men’s Singles final to deny China a clean sweep of titles.

Since that date in Shanghai, Zagreb, Yokohama and Rotterdam; all five titles on offer have gone the way of China.

On Saturday 18th May 2013 in the very same venue as ten years earlier, Lee Sangsu and Park Youngsook prevented a Chinese clean sweep.

 05/17/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Austria’s Robert Gardos underlined the fact that experience counts, China’s Yan An endorsed the concept that there is no substitute for the exuberance of youth.

Both emerged successful in their third round duels in the Men’s Singles event at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris on the evening of Friday 17th May 2013 but in quite different matters.

Robert Gardos was stretched the full seven games distance by Egypt’s Omar Assar; whilst Yan An once in top gear was irrepressible against Kalinikos Kreanga of Greece.

 05/17/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan recovered from the precipice of defeat, in a tension packed quarter-final Men’s Doubles duel at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris on Friday 17th May 2013 to assure a place on the medal podium.

They beat Japan’s Kazuhiro Chan and Kenji Matsudaira in seven games (11-13, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9), after saving one match point, when trailing 10-11 in what was to prove the crucial sixth game.

Furthermore, they beat a partnership that was buoyant, a pairing in form; one round earlier the Japanese duo had overcome China’s Chen Qi and Fang Bo, the no.3 seeds, in a similar gripping seven games duel (11-8, 3-11, 10-12, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-6).

 05/17/2013       World Table Tennis Championships

Tension in the air, the efforts of China’s Zhu Yuling followed by those of the Chinese Taipei pairing of Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan kept the crowd in the Palais Omnisport de Paris thoroughly engrossed on the fifth day of play, Friday 17th May 2013, at the LIEBHERR World Championships.

In the fourth round of the Women’s Singles event, Zhu Yuling staved off a spirited challenge by Hong Kong’s Jiang Huajun to secure a six games victory (11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 21-19); before Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan joined forces to end the dream of Japan’s Kazuhiro Chan and Kenta Matsudaira (11-13, 10-12, 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9) after saving one match point in the sixth game.

All three players spoke afterwards.