05/21/2013      

Situated in the Nord Department, Milot is the site of the Sans-Souci Palace, one of Haiti's most revered landmarks; also it is the home for the Hôpital Sacré Coeur, run by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Crudem Foundation.

Now it has another claim to fame; it is the centre of an ever growing sporting culture.

In the past five years, since 2008, table tennis has become the passion for children in Milot.

 05/21/2013      

A decade ago at the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris, Croatia’s Tamara Boros secured the bronze medal in the Women’s Singles event; since that date all medals in the event have been won by Asian players as have the medals the same competition at the Olympic Games.

In 2012, Tamara Boros made the decision to retire from international play; she assumed an appointment at the Werner Schlager Academy in Schwechat on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria.

A distinguished career spanning 20 years is being recognised with a documentary “Tamara” being produced and set to be unveiled on Thursday 19th December 2013.

 05/15/2013      

Canada’s Adham Sharara was re-elected President of the International Table Tennis Federation at the Annual General Meeting staged on the occasion of the LIEBHERR World Championships in Paris, France on Wednesday 15th May 2013.

He overcame the challenge from European Table Tennis Union President, Italy’s Stefano Bosi, by 149 votes to 53, and assumes office for a further four years to add to the 14 already served.

 05/10/2013       19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships

Crowned Pan American champion in October 2011 in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, Zhang Mo added to her trophy collection on Friday 10th May 2013 by winning the Women’s Singles title at the Commonwealth Championships in New Delhi.

Seeded no.5, she accounted for Singapore’s Yu Mengyu at the final hurdle in a close seven games duel (11-6, 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 8-11, 11-8), after having ousted India’s Manika Batra, the no.8 seed, in an equally hard fought contest in the penultimate round (11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6).

In the corresponding semi-final, Yu Mengyu ended the host nation’s aspirations by overcoming Mouma Das, the no.11 seed, in six games (11-8, 15-17, 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4).

 05/10/2013      

Adham Sharara, ITTF President, has been invited to attend the Third International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development to be held at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th June 2013.

He will make a presentation during Session IV which is dedicated to the theme Sport and Social Development Legacies; the scheduled time for the address is from 10.00am on Thursday 6th June.

Organised by the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee; the Forum will focus attention on the successes and challenges of using sport as a means of enabling human development and promoting peace.

 05/09/2013       19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships

Singapore continued their dominance of affairs at the Commonwealth Championships in New Delhi on Thursday 9th May 2013; gold medallists in both the Men’s and Women’s Team events one day earlier, they added the Mixed Doubles title to their collection.

Zhan Jian and Zhou Yihan combined to secure the top prize.

They overcame England’s Andrew Baggaley and Hannah Hicks in the quarter-finals (11-1, 11-6, 11-9), followed by success against Malaysia’s Muhud Shakirin Ibrahim and Beh Lee Wei in the semi-finals (11-1, 5-11, 11-8, 11-3) before overcoming India’s Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das, the fourth seeds, in the final (11-3, 15-13, 11-7).

 05/06/2013       19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships

Matters went according to seeding in the second stage of affairs in the Men’s Team event at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Monday 6th May 2013.

The top four seeded teams duly booked places in the semi-finals and are thus guaranteed medals.

There is no play-off match for third and fourth places.

At the semi-final stage Singapore, the no.1 seeds, will play Scotland, the no.4 seeds; whilst India, the no.2 seeds, face England, the no.3 seeds.

In the contests for fifth to eight positions, Wales meet Northern Ireland and Malaysia oppose Australia.

 05/04/2013      

Many years ago, when I could still pretend I had a lot of hair, I found myself sitting in a bus on our way to a dinner hosted by an organizing committee of an event.

Where? I don’t know. Which city or country? I can’t remember. Who was sitting next to me? This I remember very well because it had a huge impact on my way of thinking within the ITTF.

I was sitting next to a table tennis giant and a pillar of our sport community - the one and only Misha Kapetanic. He had the window seat and I was occupying an aisle seat dressed to the nines. As a novice in the ITTF, I decided to ask the “master” a few questions.

 05/03/2013       19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships

Currently nothing is going right for Yang Zi; seemingly the fates are stacked against him.

However, in the forthcoming Commonwealth Championships, which start in the Indian city of New Delhi on Sunday 5th May and conclude on Friday 10th May 2013, the 28 year old has a chance to close the book and open a new chapter.

Furthermore, he is returning to a city that saw one of his greatest triumphs.

He is named in the Singapore Men’s Team for the six day tournament; a competition in which he has every right to feel confident.