19 Aug 2020

We have another action-packed edition of Player Watch to bring you this week ranging from gripping tournament news from China and Sweden, to holidaymaking. Here’s what the stars of the show have been spending their time:

by Simon Daish

Liang Jingkun and Sun Yingsha impress at Chinese Olympic preparation event

Prestigious players from all-over China have been in the spotlight over the past couple of weeks with the high-stake Tokyo 2020 Preparation for China Table Tennis – Olympic Simulation Games arriving in Lingshui City, Hainan Province.

Fascinating from the word “go”, the event has produced plenty of drama so far with Liang Jingkun and Sun Yingsha capturing the respective men’s and women’s singles gold medals, giving plenty of food for thought in anticipation of next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Liang Jingkun has enjoyed a successful stint in Lingshui
Källbergs shine in Köping

There has also been exciting tournament action over in Köping, Sweden where many of the country’s biggest names have gathered to take part at the Sweden Tour.

Anton and Christina Källberg both enjoyed the best part of the weekend, securing the two singles titles with impressive outings from the siblings. You can read more here.

Anton and Christina Källberg singles champions on opening weekend of Sweden Tour
Players on vacation

International travel restrictions eased in certain countries, some of the sport’s star players have taken the opportunity to head out on vacation.

Ricardo Walther shared an update from his trip to Achensee, Tirol, Austria:

 

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some days off in austria 🇦🇹 🏔 ☀️

A post shared by Ricardo Walther (@ricardowalther91) on

Georgina Pota has been visiting Vodice, Croatia for her daughter Regina’s first holiday:

 

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First vacation 🥰 👼

A post shared by Pota Georgina (@ginus13) on

Meanwhile, Sarah De Nutte has swapped the familiar surroundings of Luxembourg for Italy where she has taken up a new role… keeping the leaning tower of Pisa standing:

 

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Do you think I can fix it? 😂💪🏼 #TouristinPisa 🇮🇹

A post shared by Sarah De Nutte (@sarahdenutte) on

Raring to go

Five months have passed since the last ball was hit on the international stage and the players are itching to return into the action. We can’t wait to see the stars below make their eventual return to the table:

 

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terminando la semana de entrenamiento💚 can’t wait to play again 💚

A post shared by ⭐️Melanie Diaz⭐️ (@mely_diaaz) on

 

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Prepare for the new season 🙏🏓 @butterflyttofficial

A post shared by Michael Maze (@maze.michael) on

 

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Ready for Season 20COVID-19 ( to whenever you are going to start) 🏓 📸 Daniel Mazza

A post shared by Debora Vivarelli (@deboravivarelli) on

 

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Ganas de volver a competir y ganas de volver a esto 🙌🏼🏆

A post shared by Ana Codina (@anacodina1) on

Belgian and Chinese Taipei stars enjoy birthday celebrations

As is a regular occurrence on Player Watch, we round off this week’s edition with birthday news.

First up, a happy 22nd birthday to Margo Degraef:

 

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22 🦋🐬🐠💙🕊

A post shared by Margo Degraef ➵ (@margodegraef) on

While Lin Yun-Ju celebrated his 19th birthday on Monday:

 

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🎂👶🏻

A post shared by 林昀儒 (@lin__yun_ju_) on

General News Sun Yingsha Lin Yun -Ju Georgina Pota Liang Jingkun Anton Källberg Melanie Diaz Ricardo Walther Sarah De Nutte Michael Maze Christina Källberg Debora Vivarelli Ana Codina Margo Degraef