3/19/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

Every year the ITTF provides three scholarships for its World Championships aiming at journalists under the age of thirty-five. The three young men working in Guangzhou came from Nigeria, Pakistan and Germany, respectively.

It was a pleasure to see their dedication for their jobs and table tennis. They all had an influence on the media coverage in their respective countries.

 3/17/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

The team of Congo Democratic missed the 2008 World Championships because the money from the government was received too late. Instead of returning the funds, President St. Mathieu Muana Mbuta, one coach as well as three male and three female players decided to use the opportunity for a training camp in China.

 3/2/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

They came in their thousands, the capacity of the Guangzhou Gymnasium being thirteen thousand; as with the Women’s Team final, the previous evening there wasn’t a spare seat in the house.

The signs were held aloft in Chinese characters “China to Win” and of course the multitudes of adoring fans were rewarded on Sunday 2nd March 2008 as their heroes won the Swaythling Cup for the sixteenth time and endorsed their stature as the superpower of table tennis.

 3/2/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

At the China Mobile Asian Championships in Yangzhou in early September 2007; the young male team from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea threatened to cause upsets time and again against the elite of Asia; at the end of the day they just fell short.

In Guangzhou at the Evergrande World Team Championships they succeeded; on Sunday 2nd March 2008 they beat Ukraine in the final of Division Two to secure promotion to the Championship Division in 2010.

Successfully through the first stage they beat Argentina in the first round, Brazil in the quarters and at the semi-final stage Portugal.

 3/1/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

Val Murdoch, wife of Alex, the Chairman of the English Table Tennis Association confessed she was in tears; the fairy tale had come true, England had emerged quite remarkably as the champions in Division Two of the women’s event at the Evergrande World Team Championships in Guangzhou on Saturday 1st March 2008.

The defensive skills of Joanna Parker overcame Slovakia’s Barbora Balazova in a thrilling five games duel with the match score locked at two-all to secure first place for the country where the sport was born.

However, if there is one player England must thank then it is nineteen year old Kelly Sibley

 3/1/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

Meetings upon meetings in Guangzhou at the Evergrande World Championships with the Development department of the International Table Tennis Federation being one of the most active.

At the meeting held on Saturday 1st March 2008 two projects were approved by the ITTF Goodwill Fund Panel; both will receive financial support.

 3/1/2008 Evergrande Real Estate 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships

At the China Mobile Asian Championships in Yangzhou in September 2007, Singapore had given China a stern test in the final of the Women’s Team event; in Guangzhou they gave them an even sterner test.

In Yangzhou a hard fought three-nil win was the order of the day for China, in Guangzhou the end result was three-one; on Saturday 1st March 2008 Singapore rose to the occasion.

They made a superb start with Li Jia Wei beating Guo Yue, the reigning World champion, in straight games before the top seeds eventually assumed control.