Fan Zhendong retained his crown at the Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup on Sunday 15 November in Weihai China. The world no.1 and top seed overcame fellow Chinese star Ma Long the no.2 seed in a thrilling seven-game final (3-11 11-8 11-3 11-6 7-11 7-11 11-9) to clinch his third consecutive Men’s World Cup title and fourth in total. In doing so Fan drew level with the record set by compatriot Ma Lin.   On all five occasions when competing Fan has reached the final the only loss being on debut in 2015 in Halmstad when beaten by Ma Long. On his next four appearances he has always won taking gold in 2016 in Saarbrucken 2018 in Paris and 2019 in Chengdu. No other player has ever won the Men’s World Cup in three straight years.  “I would like to thank the Local Organising Committee and the ITTF who under such difficult circumstances managed to pull off one of the biggest events like the World Cup. I would also like to thank my team. Despite this pandemic we could continue to train at a very high level. After eight months without international events I didn’t feel very rusty or unable to do what I set out to ” said Fan Zhendong. Fan’s journey in Weihai began with an opening-round win over Chinese Taipei’s 39-year-old Chuang Chih-Yuan the no.17 seed before a quarter-final victory against 19-year-old Lin Yun-Ju the no.5 seed also from Chinese Taipei. In the semi-final Fan ended the adventure of Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin the no.12 seed (11-5 11-8 13-11 11-8). For Ma Long despite having to settle for silver there was the satisfaction of revenge. Men’s World Cup champion in 2012 and 2015 he fought back in epic fashion against Japan’s 17-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto the no.3 seed in their semi-final (11-7 3-11 6-11 8-11 11-8 11-6 11-4). Harimoto had overcome Ma in the same round one year ago.   “Harimoto has made a huge improvement to his game in the last two years. I lost to him last year in the World Cup. Even at 1-3 down I did not give up and my coach kept encouraging me and giving me tips ” stated Ma Long.  Silver in Chengdu for Harimoto; in Weihai it was bronze. In the third-place playoff he defeated Jang Woojin (7-11 7-11 11-9 11-6 14-12 6-11 11-5).  “In the afternoon I played really well against Ma Long and after losing I was quite disappointed. Winning a medal is still a good achievement. No match was easy here ” explained Tomokazu Harimoto.  Jang Woojin excelled by finishing fourth on his Men’s World Cup debut. Safely through to the main draw he beat Japan’s Koki Niwa the no.8 seed before seeing off fellow Korean Jeoung Youngsik the no.9 seed (15-13 11-9 2-11 11-6 7-11 11-6). Jeoung had knocked out Brazil’s Hugo Calderano the no.4 seed in the opening round (11-8 14-16 11-9 10-12 11-2 11-7).  It was a strong debut Men’s World Cup showing also for Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic. The no.18 seed pushed Ma Long hard over a six-game opening-round encounter (11-7 12-14 11-9 11-13 13-11 11-3). The 22-year-old had ended the hopes of Africa in the group stage by beating the continent’s leading light Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna the no.13 seed (11-4 8-11 10-12 12-10 11-8 11-4).  Meanwhile from Europe Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Sweden’s Mattias Falck went furthest in Weihai. Ovtcharov the no.7 seed was defeated by Ma Long in the quarter-final (11-9 11-4 11-7 7-11 11-5). In the same round Falck the no.6 seed lost to Harimoto (11-9 11-8 11-9 4-11 11-9).  As the curtain comes down on a successful Men’s World Cup preparations begin for the Bank of Communications 2020 ITTF Finals taking place between 19 – 22 November 2020 in Zhengzhou China. The event will see many of the world’s best men’s singles and women’s singles players battling for honours. It is the third and final event of the #RESTART series which is delivering the return of international table tennis events after eight months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup – the second event on the #RESTART series – is under way in Weihai China. Following Friday’s group stage the top eight seeds are poised to enter the action on Saturday 14 November. Eyes very much focus on Ma Long (no.2 seed) the reigning Olympic and World champion who last year for the first time in his career failed to gain a place on the Men’s World Cup podium. In Weihai the Chinese great has the chance to turn the tables; he is in the same half of the draw as Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto (no.3 seed) against whom Ma suffered a semi-final defeat in the 2019 edition in Chengdu.  Status suggests that their paths will cross again at the same stage this year. In the opening round Ma faces surprise qualifier Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic (no.18 seed) and awaiting in the quarter-final will be either Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov (no.7 seed) or England’s Liam Pitchford (no.10 seed).  Pitchford caught the eye on the opening day winning his matches against Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei (9-11 11-6 11-8 13-11 13-11) and USA’s Kanak Jha (7-11 11-4 13-15 11-5 11-5 10-12 11-4). “I was practicing well and putting in the right work so I felt confident coming into the event. Getting two wins out of two and playing some good table tennis of course I’m very happy ” said Liam Pitchford. In the same half of the draw Harimoto takes on Austria’s Robert Gardos (no.16 seed) with a potential quarter-final meeting against either Sweden’s Mattias Falck (no.6 seed) or Hong Kong China’s Wong Chun Ting (no.14 seed).  Falck won their most recent encounter the 2019 Hong Kong Open but Wong is very much the player in form. In the group stage he managed to secure top spot overcoming Korea Republic’s Jeoung Youngsik (no.9 seed) in the process (11-9 10-12 12-10 11-7 7-11 12-10).  China’s Fan Zhendong (no.1 seed) is seeking a record-equalling fourth Men’s World Cup. Fan takes on Chuang Chih-Yuan (no.17 seed) who is making his 16th appearance at the event. Awaiting at the quarter-final stage is either Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju (no.5 seed) or Germany’s Patrick Franziska (no.11 seed). Lin starts the favourite but Franziska is in form. He finished in first place in his group seeing off Jorgic (11-6 11-5 11-6 11-6) and Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna (11-9 11-5 11-8 12-14 11-8). Meanwhile in the same half of the draw Brazil’s Hugo Calderano (no.4 seed) meets Jeoung Youngsik (no.9 seed) while Japan’s Koki Niwa (no.8 seed) confronts another Korean in Jang Woojin (no.12 seed). Calderano defeated Jeoung Youngsik in their only previous battle at the 2019 Austrian Open. Likewise Jang Woojin holds a 1-0 record against Koki Niwa having won at the 2017 Asian Games. The round of 16 and quarter-finals will be played out on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s semi-finals third place playoff and final. 

The Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup is delivering more top-class table tennis over the next three days (13 – 15 November) in Weihai China. This is the second event of the #RESTART series which marks the return of international table tennis after eight months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  This follows just days after several of the globe’s best women’s players put on a show at the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup between 8 – 10 November which saw world no.1 Chen Meng (China) claim gold.  The 41st edition of the Men’s World Cup gets under way with the group stage on Friday 13 November before the knockout stages are held between Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November at the Weihai Nanhai Olympic Center. Fan Zhendong (China – top seed) is setting out to defend his crown and match Ma Lin’s all-time record of four Men’s World Cup titles. The World no.1 has tasted victory already in 2016 (Saarbrücken) 2018 (Paris) and 2019 (Chengdu). Meanwhile Ma Long (China – no.2 seed) is looking to add a third Men’s World Cup to his burgeoning trophy cabinet. The reigning Olympic and World Champion won the event in 2012 (Liverpool) and 2015 (Halmstad). Tomokazu Harimoto (Japan – no.3 seed) is aiming to go one better in Weihai having reached the final of the 2019 edition. The 17-year-old is joined by fellow teenager Lin Yun-Ju (Chinese Taipei – no.5 seed). The 19-year-old won bronze last year on his Men’s World Cup debut. Hugo Calderano (Brazil – no.4 seed) is hoping for a big impact at his fourth Men’s World Cup. Among Europe’s top representatives are Mattias Falck (Sweden – no.6 seed) a silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships and Dimitrij Ovtcharov (Germany – no.7 seed) who won the Men’s World Cup in 2017 (Liège). Koki Niwa (Japan – no.8 seed) completes the seedings in Weihai.   Friday 13 November sees the action begin with 13 players seeded 9 to 21 vying to finish in the top two positions across four groups in order to reach the knockout stages held between 14 – 15 November. Group 1: Jeoung Youngsik (Korea Republic – no.9 seed) and Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong China – no.14 seed) are the favourites to progress. They will face competition from Tomislav Pucar (Croatia no.19 seed) a Men’s World Cup debutant and Ahmed Saleh (Saleh – no.21 seed). Group 2: Liam Pitchford (England – no.10 seed) is lining up against Kanak Jha (USA – no.15 seed) and Chuang Chih-Yuan (Chinese Taipei – no.17 seed). Chuang is competing in his 16th Men’s World Cup. Group 3: Patrick Franziska (Germany – no.11 seed) and Darko Jorgic (Slovenia – no.18 seed) are both making their debuts at the Men’s World Cup. The European pair is joined by the experienced Quadri Aruna (Nigeria – no.13 seed) a quarter-finalist in 2014 and playing at his seventh World Cup.  Group 4: Jang Woojin (Korea Republic – no.12 seed) is taking part in his first-ever Men’s World Cup in Weihai where he will meet Robert Gardos (Austria – no.16 seed) and Gustavo Tsuboi (Brazil – no.20 seed). 

Hungarian Youth Open The junior and cadet competition in Szombathely running under the patronage of the ITTF has grown into one of the most significant international youth competitions in recent years but this year we were happy to be able to organize it at all.   Initially the organizers would have made an even larger-scale battle it was planed that there will be eight countries at the competititon but in the end only the Czechs came. Everyone arrived in Szombathely with a negative test result and strict safety regulations had to be followed on the spot as well.   “There is a complete closure in the Czech Republic at the moment so this competition was also the only training opportunity for the Czechs. They were the ones who stood by us all the way giving us a chance to organize the event at all. Without them this could have been a just a training camp for us” said Ottó TAMÁSI the competition director and the HTTF’s youth project manager.   The Czechs represent good quality at the game which is also shown by the fact that they won the majority of the events. One exception was the the junior boys’ singles event in which Máté ÓCSAI and Erik HUZSVÁR played the final and they were also the best in the team competition.   “There is a lot of training camps in the national team we play a lot with each other we cannot figure out anything new anymore as so many times we play with each other on a daily basis. These games between us are like as if we were playing a training match” expressed Máté ÓCSAI who defeated a Hungarian player not only in the final but also in the semi-final (Dávid SZÁNTOSI).   “I am very satisfied with my performance in the quarterfinals and semi-finals but in the final I could not perform the things I planned” revealed Erik HUZSVÁR who finished as a silver medalist in the singles event.   The head coach of the junior boys could be satisfied and next year could be even more promising if there will be competitions of course.   “The Czechs represent a good quality game it was not easy to win the competition against them” started Miklós SOMOSI after the team competitions. “Csaba ANDRÁS suffered the lot regarding the fact that this year the youth European Championships or the World championships were not organized due to the virus situation and his German team did not let him go to the Europe Youth Top-10 event. However I have heard that the junior age limit may be raised by one year and if it really becomes U19 from U18 then Csaba ANDRÁS and Olivér BOTH will remain junior players next year as well and we could go with a very strong team to the European Championships or to any international competition.”   Ferenc PÁZSY who is responsible for the cadet boys was somehow also interested in the junior competitions as Dávid SZÁNTOSI and Balázs LEI competed in the junior doubles’ event and SZÁNTOSI also played in the junior singles’. Ádám CSERI teamed up with the Czech Vojtech SLANY and they won the cadet boys’ doubles competition.   “We have to be happy about the little things now it is that we could at least play against foreign players” declared Ferenc PÁZSY. “Although only the Czechs have come but at least we could compete and acquire some more experience. It could be spotted that the boys lacked tournaments as it is the life of a professional player to train hard and then try to prove themselves in the tournaments. As a coach I need to notice the positive and negative elements so that we can correct the latter ones.”   Írisz Laskai was also happy about seeing new faces especially as they beat everyone in the doubles event with Adamik CSENGE among junior girls.   “It was pretty hard because we have not played decisive matches in a long time. It was a great motivation that this time we played not only against domestic players but also against the Czechs” claimed Írisz LASKAI.   During the doubles competition played in a round-robin system they defeated three Czech duos and the double of Kíra BALOGH and Anna VOLENTICS.   “We practically grew up playing against each other I think we know each other better than ourselves. We played against each other this week as well in the different events but I am very happy that we were finally able to play with others” added Adamik CSENGE.   Ádám LINDNER could not count on his best player Dorottya TÖLGYES who had a match in Austria but he still witnessed good performances.   “Csenge ADAMIK and Írisz LASKAI won the doubles event which is a very nice result and they finished second in the team competition. Anna Volentics performed more moderately in both the team competition and the doubles but she was able to improve in the singles by getting into the top four with besides three Czech players. Unfortunately this cannot be said of Kíra Balogh she played even more moderately compared to her abilities.”