11 May 2020

Welcome back to yet another exciting edition of Player Watch. As ever the pros have been active in the world of social media, so without further ado here’s a quick summary of what’s been doing the rounds:

by Simon Daish

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day celebrations were held in many countries around the world on Sunday 10th May and the stars were quick to show their appreciation on this very special day.

Here’s Singapore star Yu Mengyu celebrating with her mum:

 

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Happy mother’s day 🌸 Thanks, mom🌹

A post shared by Mengyu Yu (@yu_mengyu.818) on

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran put together a touching collage:

 

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Happy Mother’s Day❤️❤️ #ironlady #momlove❤️ #happymothersday #sathiyantt @malarkodi_g

A post shared by Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) on

Kasumi Ishikawa passes on her thanks to mother and coach Kumi:

 

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*** 母の日🌹 #普段は言えない感謝の気持ちを😆 #thankyoumom #母亲节快乐〜 #祝所有妈妈都开心快乐😊💕

A post shared by Kasumi Ishikawa (@kasumi.ishikawa_official) on

Tomokazu Harimoto posted a throwback photo of his mother:

While Marcos Madrid shared a wonderfully heartwarming slideshow of his own:

 

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Feliz dia de las Madres ,miss you mama,mi campeona 😍 #happymothersday #felizdiadelasmadres #loveyou

A post shared by Marcos Madrid Mantilla OLY 🇲🇽 (@marcosmadrid_tt) on

Jura Morez adds Paul Drinkhall to player roster

Another club signing to report, this time surrounding English player Paul Drinkhall.

Six-time English national champion and a key member of his country’s bronze medal winning campaigns at the 2016 World Team Championships and 2018 Team World Cup, Drinkhall arrives at French Pro A League club Jura Morez TT after a two-year stint at TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt in Germany.

Get well soon

A couple of the stars have undergone hospital visits recently to address medical concerns. The ITTF passes on its best wishes to Sofia Polcanova and Ricardo Walther for a speedy recovery.

Get well soon Sofia:

 

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Still a long way to go, but the first step is done✅💪🏻 I‘ve been struggling with my injury for a long time now. I remember first time when I had real pain in my hip was at the Team Europeans in September 2019. Since then there were many ups and downs (mostly downs), you know like having pain almost all the time and not able to practice normally. But I stayed motivated because I know that after darkness there is always light😊When the Olympics got postponed, I decided almost immediately to have the surgery. It went well and I am very happy about it!👍 P.S. Many people asked me why I didn’t compete in the „Best of Austria Challenge“ last Saturday. Now you know why😉 My outfit is on top, right?😂 #surgery #firstday #feelingpositive #comeon #comebackstronger

A post shared by Sofia Polcanova (@sofia.polcanova) on

You too Ricardo:

Birthday celebrations

Finally, we have a couple of birthdays to celebrate in this week’s edition of Player Watch.

First of all, we extend our congratulatory messages to England’s Sam Walker, who was 25 on Thursday 7th May:

 

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Thank you for all the birthday messages! I’ve had a great day at home eating a lot of cake 😳😅

A post shared by Sam Walker (@samwalker_tt) on

We then follow with Suh Hyowon, the Korean defender celebrating her 33rd birthday on Sunday 10th May:

General News Paul Drinkhall Sofia Polcanova Suh Hyowon Sam walker Ricardo Walther