2018 ITTF Team World Cup   Paul DRINKHALL Liam PITCHFORD and Sam WALKER gave a brave performance in the semi final of the Men’s event at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup in London’s Copper Box arena but China was at the top of their game. They succeeded in straight matches.   China made a dream start with Rotterdam’s 2011 World Champions MA Long and XU Xin on duty. They overcame Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker in straight games (11-2 11-7 11-4).   FAN Zhendong in next duel faced very determened Liam PITCHFORD. In both the first and third games Liam PITCHFORD steamed into a 5-1 lead; in the opening game he maintained the advantage to set the Copper Box alight; in the third game Fan Zhendong reduced the arrears at 6-5; Marcus SJÖBERG the England coach called “Time Out”. A wise move but Fan Zhendong was the eventually beneficiary.   Undoubtedly Liam PITCHFORD was playing the best table tennis of his life. In the fourth game he led 8-5; again as in the previous game the master of putting one more ball on the table than your opponent recovered. He lost just one more point a four games win was recorded (8-11 11-3 11-9 11-9).   “I have put in a lot of hard work in training. I knew I could perform well at this level and I am happy with my results in this competition. Against FAN Zhendong I had chances in the second and third games but he is such a good player. I am happy with the way I played against him. To get a medal in this competition was a bit surprise. It is a good situation for us going into another big event the Commonwealth Games in Australia ” said Liam PITCHFORD   MA Long beat Sam Walker in straight games (11-5 11-1 11-2) in the final encounter.   Victory for China a place in the final for the ninth time.

2018 ITTF Team World Cup   England beat Brazil to book their place in the semi-final stage of the Men’s event at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup in London’s Copper Box arena. They emerged successful by three matches to one with Liam PITCHFORD the backbone of victory as a minimal bronze medal was assured.    “I’m over the moon. I’ve been working smarter recently with psychologists and one-to-one with the coaches working on small things in my game that I needed to make the step up. It’s been up and down but now I feel I’m flourishing. I can’t really explain it I’m just playing well and enjoying the moment. I’ve been under pressure in a couple of matches but managed to come through them – before that wasn’t happening but now I’m stepping up. We’ve got to approach the semi-final against China the same way we would against anyone else. We put them under pressure at the Olympics and we weren’t that far away ” said Liam PITCHFORD.   PITCHFORD beat Hugo Calderano in three straight games (11-4 11-6 11-6) the win coming after Paul DRINKHALL and Sam WALKER had recovered from a two games to nil deficit in the opening doubles contest against Eric JOUTI and Gustavo TSUBOI (5-11 7-11 11-4 11-7 11-6).   Gustavo TSUBOI overcame Paul DRINKHALL (8-11 6-11 14-12 11-4 11-6). Liam PITCHFORD on his second return to the table record a four games success (6-11 11-8 11-5 11-8).   “I’m just really happy especially to do it here in London. Maybe the Team World Cup isn’t as big as the world championships of Olympics but it’s a world medal and you’ve got to beat some good teams to get it – and we’ve done that again. Hopefully we’ll give a good performance tomorrow – we go into it with belief ” Sam WALKER.   In the penultimate round China awaits.   “We’ve got to approach the semi-final against China the same way we would against anyone else. We put them under pressure at the Olympics and we weren’t that far away.” Liam PITCHFORD   Against Germany FAN Zhendong and XU Xin combined to beat Benedikt DUDA and Patrick FRANZISKA (11-5 11-6 11-5); MA Long followed suit by overcoming Ruwen FILUS (11-9 11-8 11-8) before XU Xin closed the curtain. He overcame Benedikt DUDA (11-4 11-9 11-7).   “When we got the eighth seeding late on it opened up the possibility of a medal being number two in the group we’re expected to get to the quarter-finals. Then you’re waiting for the draw and it was a good draw and we took advantage of that. Obviously now we’ve got China and what a great place to play them in London with a young team. Who knows what could happen?” asked DRINKHALL.

2018 ITTF Team World in London   Hong Kong beat Romania to book their place in the semi-finals of the Women’s event at the 2018 ITTF Team World in London. Romania the no.5 seeds and reigning European champions failed to score against the no.3 seeds – 3:0   DOO Hoi Kem and LEE Ho Ching gave Hong Kong the perfect start. They recovered from an opening game deficit to beat Daniela Monteiro-DODEAN and Elizabeta SAMARA the 2012 European champions in four games (6-11 18-16 11-6 11-5). MINNIE Soo Wai Yam accounted for Bernadette SZOCS the recent winner of the European Top 16 and very much a player in form (11-9 1-11 9-11 11-7 11-8). LEE Ho Ching brought matters to a conclusion she beat Elizabeta SAMARA in three straight games (13-11 11-6 11-8).   China overcame the United States the no.10 seeds by same margin. Hong Kong now meets China in the semi-finals.

2018 ITTF Team World Cup   Germany England and France booked their places in the quarter-finals of the Men’s event at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup in the London’s Copper Box arena. In Women’s Event Romania is the only European team to play in the Round of 8.   England the no.8 seeds succeeded against Egypt the no.10 seeds. In the match against Egypt Sam WALKER partnered Paul DRINKHALL to success against El-Sayed LASHIN and Ahmed Ali SALAEH (11-5 8-11 11-8 11-9). Later WALKER accounted for Mohamed El-BEIALI (11-6 11-8 11-7) after Liam Pitchford had also beaten Mohamed El-BEIALI (11-7 3-11 11-7 11-4) and Paul DRINKHALL had experienced defeat at the hands of in in-form Ahmed Ali SALEH (11-4 7-11 6-11 11-7 11-6).   “There is nothing secret about my excitement at playing on big stage. I think my best performance has been on the big stage and I love big stage as well. I played against Mohamed El-BEIALI at the 2017 Belgium Open and I defeated him 4-0. His style of play is quite good for me because he loves rallying and I ensured I hit the ball before him and this really gave me the edge. People were expecting us to win and it was very important that we won 3-1. It was tough but we are happy that we are in the quarterfinal and we will be playing in our city which is London. The fans have been very supportive and I hope they can continue to support us in the quarterfinal. I am so excited playing in front of the London fans as we look forward to the quarterfinal encounter later this evening ” said WALKER. “I’m really excited to be in the quarter-finals in London in our home country. The support today was great and hopefully it can be even better this evening. The match was tough because we were expected to win but they’re not an easy team to play. I always felt we had the upper hand and it was good to get a good start in the doubles and take the pressure off a bit.”     In the first match in the Group England lost against Japan.    “It’s great to get through in second place which is enough. First would have been ideal but we’ve not performed well enough yet to warrant that. We knew we were favorites against Egypt but they played a strong match especially without their number one player and tested us in every match. It was really good for Sam WALKER to play his first singles match of the tournament and get a win ” said Paul DRINKHALL.   Liam PITCHFORD praised Sam’s efforts.   “I’m obviously happy to get through the group and into the quarter-finals. We knew it was going to be a tough match. We found out Omar Assar wasn’t playing which made it a little bit easier but you can never underestimate them. They put in a good performance but we did a professional job. I’m happy for Sam to come in and play well it’s not easy to play your first match in singles in that situation.”     Emmanuel LEBESSON was the back bone of French success against Sweden. LEBESSON partnered Alexandre Cassin to success the pair accounting for Pär GERELL and Anton KÄLLBERG (11-4 8-11 11-4 11-3). Later with the match score level at two-all he overcame Kristian KARLSSON (11-5 11-3 11-7). Quentin ROBINOT lost to Kristian KARLSSON (11-9 5-11 11-9 11-8) and Pär GERELL (9-11 11-5 11-9 11-7); the one further win was for France was recorded by Alexandre CASSIN against Anton KÄLLBERG in the third match of the fixture (11-7 8-11 11-5 11-5).   In the quarterfinal England will meet Brazil Germany will play against China France against Republic Korea and Japan against Hong Kong.   Romania overcame Australia 3-0 in the Women’s Group Stage to reach the quarters.    “We have played the opening match against Chinese Taipei. If we could have this match today for sure it would be another story because it was very difficult to start the tournament with so strong team ” explained Elizabeta SAMARA.   Daniela MONTEIRO DODEAN added: “For a long period we didn’t practice everyone has lots of club matches so we have no time to play together. Obviously it was different goals for us to start team match with a double. Of course we are little disappointed with a second place in the group because we will play with the strong team now – Hong Kong.”

2018 ITTF World Team Cup   Despite great effort in the Copper Box arena in London England failed to record the win against Hong Kong in their opening group stage match in the Women’s event at the 2018 ITTF World Team Cup. They lost 3:0   DOO Hoi Kem and LEE Ho Ching beat Kelly SIBLEY and Maria TSAPTSINOS in the doubles contest (11-3 9-11 11-7 11-7) before DOO Hoi Kem doubled the advantage by overcoming Tin-Tin HO (11-3 11-8 14-12). Matters concluded with MINNIE Soo Wai Yam; she overcame Kelly SIBLEY (11-3 11-3 11-3).    “I am happy to play at the home arena. It was a good atmosphere in the venue. Hong Kong is the no.3 at the World Rankings now. It was the very difficult match for us. The girls did everything they could. So I can not be unhappy with that performance considering the level of opponents ” said coach Marcus CUSTAFSON.   It was from Hong Kong a most competent and professional performance; for LEE Ho Ching it was her third appearance in the tournament for DOO Hoi Kem the second for MINNIE Soo Wai Yam she was on debut.    “I really enjoyed the support of the fans and this really boosted our confidence. It is always hard to play against a strong team. I am just grateful that I was able to give my best. I want to continue to play well and hope that I can cause an upset in the tournament. Also this competition affords us the opportunity to compete against the best players in the world.” Said Tin Tin HO.   In Men’s event Germany the no.3 seeds beat Australia by three matches to nil. Ruwen FILUS and Patrick FRANZISKA combined to overcome David POWELL and Kane TOWNSEND (12-10 11-5 11-1); Dimitrij OVTCHAROV accounted for Heming HU to extend the lead (11-7 11-6 8-11 11-4) prior to Patrick FRANZISKA defeating Kane TOWNSEND (11-6 11-6 11-6) to close the curtain.   Sweden suffered defeat by the hands of China’s players. Previously China beat France.   “But it was very difficult playing against XU Xin and he got a lot of points from the rallies. I had to be so aggressive in my service and return and this made the game very difficult for him. The last match against France is very important to us being the deciding game that will determine the second team that will progress from the group. We are fully prepared for it and we hope we can do our best to win and advance to the quarterfinal. I think this tournament is a good preparation for us and every team going to the World Championship in April because it gives us the opportunity to play against the best. It is like a min World Championship ” said Anton KALLBERG (SWE).   Unfortunately for hosts England lost their encounter against Japan in Men’s Event. Liam PITCHFORD explained what happened after losing 1-3.   “The win against Harimoto TAMAKAZU was very important to us and in the next game Paul had the chance to win if he had won the third set. And playing against Koki NIWA was never easy. I was very confident going into the match and I was leading 7-2 in the first but I lost it. I think the opening game win gave Niwa the needed confidence in the match. Also I did not return very well because I felt I had the chance to win. The final group match against Egypt is massive because whoever wins advance to the quarterfinal. Omar ASSAR is a good player and they have a strong doubles and what we just need to do is go and sleep and focus on the encounter against Egypt tomorrow.”    

The draw ceremony for the long anticipated 2018 ITTF Team World Cup has concluded today in London England with the 12 men’s and women’s teams drawn into their respective groups for the first stage of competition.   Host team England will be looking to avenge their 2016 World Team Championships semifinals loss against the Japanese Men’s Team in a rematch at the 2018 ITTF Team World Cup group stage tomorrow on home soil.   England who shocked the world at the Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships to win their first World Championships medal since 1983 narrowly missed out their chance to make the final after losing 1-3 to the Japan in Kuala Lumpur.   On the rematch against the second seed in London Englishman Liam PITCHFORD shared “In Kuala Lumpur we competed well and surprised everyone to win a bronze medal. Of course here it will be tough we play Japan they have a strong young team Tomozaku HARIMOTO especially! It’s massive to play in front of a home crowd London 2012 was special so I am ready.”   World Team Champions China will be looking at defending their titles earned in Dubai in 2015 sending out their top players including World & Olympic Champions MA Long and DING Ning.   The Chinese Women’s Team missing world number one CHEN Meng will face off old rivals early playing their first match of the tournament with Korea DPR whom they beat in the 2015 Team World Cup Women’s Final to claim Gold.   The 2018 ITTF Team World Cup will test the new playing system for the Olympic Team event that will be used at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where the doubles match will be played first followed by the singles matches. The benefit is that the best players are ensured to play against each other as well as fans and media knowing all the five upcoming matches before the match starts which was not the case with the previous system.   The 2018 ITTF Team World Cup will be take place at the iconic Copper Box Arena in London England from tomorrow 22 February till 25 February.   The next day and a half will see the 12 teams battle in four groups of three in the qualifications group stage in a round robin. The top two teams of each group will then be drawn in the second stage which will follow a knockout system with the semifinals taking place on 24 February and the Champions being decided on 25 February 2018.

he International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is excited to announce an expansion of its sponsorship agreement with GoDaddy the world’s largest cloud platform dedicated to small independent ventures. GoDaddy branding will be featured at sponsored events for a total of twelve ITTF events in 2018 in locations around the world.   The partnership renewal comes on the back of five event partnerships on the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour which were highly successful in promoting table tennis globally and in GoDaddy’s growing presence worldwide.   As part of this year’s sponsorship GoDaddy will be the Event Major Sponsor and Daily Review Sponsor for ITTF’s digital platforms for nine events on the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour and three ITTF World Cup events. The events include: 2018 ITTF World Tour Regular events Hang Seng Hong Kong Open – Hong Kong: 24-27 May 2018 Japan Open – Fukuoka Japan: 8-10 June 2018 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum events Qatar Open – Doha Qatar: 8-11 March 2018 German Open – Bremen Germany: 23-25 March 2018 China Open – Shenzhen China: 31 May-3 June 2018 Korea Open – Daejeon Korea: 19-22 July 2018 Australia Open – Geelong Australia: 26-29 July 2018 Austrian Open – Linz Austria: 8-11 November 2018 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Location to be confirmed: 13-16 December 2018 2018 ITTF World Cups Team World Cup – London England – 22-25 February 2018 Women’s World Cup – Chengdu China – 28-30 September 2018 Men’s World Cup – Paris France – 19-21 October 2018 ITTF President Mr. Thomas WEIKERT shared “We are pleased to expand our sponsorship agreement with GoDaddy for this year and the opportunity to work together on more events. Table Tennis has an increasingly strong presence around the world and the broad exposure can help global brands such as GoDaddy achieve their sponsorship goals.”   “Table tennis has been popular in Asia and is growing in other countries. GoDaddy is pleased to be working again with the ITTF this year sponsoring Table Tennis Tour Events in countries around the world.  Extending our sponsorship to twelve events this year gives us the opportunity to raise global awareness about GoDaddy and the value we provide in helping people create a powerful online presence for their venture ” said Roger Chen Vice President of APAC Region GoDaddy.   GoDaddy worked with Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment (VWSE) to secure this ITTF Major Sponsor agreement.