Women’s Teams Event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games   In the semi final of the Women’s Teams Event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games China will meet Singapore whilst Japan will play against Germany.   HAN Ying was the instrumental in Germany’s win over Hong Kong. She won both her singles against LEE Ho Ching and Tie Yana whilst SHAN Xiaona and Petrissa SOLJA joined her with the victory in doubles.   Top seeded China overcame DPR Korea 3-0 to advance to the Women’s Team Semifinals. LI Xiaoxia overcame RI MI Gyong LIU Shiven beat KIM SOng I whilst DING Ning and LIU Shiven overcame RI Myong Sun and KIM Song I. All three matches concluded in straight games.   LI Xiaoxia:“I played RI before in the past and her strokes today were lighter than how she played in our previous encounter so it took some time for me to adapt in time for it. Initially I was told by Coach Kong Linghui that I will be playing against KIM Song I this morning but I think there were some mistakes and I ended up playing against RI Mi Gyong instead.”   The thoughts of the final are already behind” “I don’t see it as a failure and it didn’t affect me much. The only impact is that my old injuries are coming back after playing the Singles. I played five matches in three days so it was hard on my body. I have two more matches left so I hope to prepare well for them.”   Olympic champion DING Ning added:“The double match was better and we took it easily. We didn’t get into too much rallies so it didn’t strain my shoulders too much. I think out of the three of us I’m the only one who have played KIM Song I. So last night during our team meeting I shared on my experience playing against her and some characteristics on her playing style. But of course I am left handed and Shiwen is right handed and we play different styles all together so it all depends on how she adapts on court.”   Singapore the no.4 seeds beat Korea Republic the no.7 seeds 3:2.   FENG Tianwei:“It was an intense and tough match. I played the first and last match so both are very crucial. It’s good that we didn’t come into the match with too much pressure and all three of us fought hard for every point.”

Men’s Teams Event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games   Seeded at position no. two Germany started their journey in the Men’s Teams Event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with the victory over Chinese Taipei no. nine seed whilst Austria prevailed against Portugal. Those two teams will meet each other in the match for the semi final.  Japan beat Poland and they will meet Hong Kong China.   In three singles encounters Germany’s Timo BOLL Dimitrij OVTCHAROV and Bastian STEGER recorded victories. Taipei’s pairings CHIANG Hung-Chieh and CHEN Chien-An gained only one point in doubles match against Bastian STEGER and Timo BOLL.    “It’s hard just playing in the team event it’s a strange feeling; you practise but it’s not the same as a match. Here there is so much noise from the crowd the start the wave and you really have to push yourself hard to concentrate. I am not complaining the atmosphere here has been great” stated STEGER. “Today against Chuang Chih-Yuan I think he was a little down after losing to Quadri Aruna in the Men’s Singles. I won the first game I think he became nervous and I was able to play my game.”   European champions from Russia 2015 Austria beat Old Continents champions from 2014 Portugal to upset the order of merit. Austria is seeded at position no. 10 whilst Portugal is ranked at the position no. six. Roberta GARDOS set his team in the winning mode after 3:2 victory over Tiago APOLONIA. Marcos FREITAS fought back for 1:1 after victory over Stefan FEGERL. He also needed full five games. In another full distance clash in doubles Daniel HABESOHN and Robert GARDOS put Austria in lead once again.   “We made a lot of mistakes in the doubles we did not play with confidence; throughout the match we had to focus really hard to serve short. We were lucky today Tiago and João they are a good pair in the fifth game we led 10-8 they recovered then at 11-10 Danny played a great return of serve to win the match.” said Robert GARDOS   Stefan FEGERL beat João MONTEIRO the concluding match to seal victory.   “It was nearly the same today as last year in Ekaterinburg; against João I was under less pressure than him we had won the doubles we were ahead. I felt I could win the rallies I felt confident with top spin to top spin from both backhand and forehand. It was a 50:50 match against Portugal today we had the luck” explained Stefan Fegerl.   In full distance thriller Japan prevailed over Poland to reach the Men’s Team Quarterfinals. Jakub DYJAS and pairings Daniel GORAK and WANG Zengyi scored for Poland. Jun MIZUTANI won both singles for Japan and Maharu YOSHIMURA added one point.   Maharu YOSHIMURA:“I was nervous before the match but I quickly found a rhythm to my play and I became more and more confident as the match progress; WANG Zengyi has a different style of play to most players but I was able to adapt. It did not cause me great problems.”

2016 Rio Olympic Games   In the opening round of the Men’s Team event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games top seeds China beat Nigeria in straight matches. The most exciting match was the duel between France and Great Britain. In the battle that lasted four hours all five matches concluded in five games.   For reigning champions the opening round was less challenging.    “It’s the first match and it’s a good start for us. Jike and I played the Men’s Singles Final last night so we didn’t really have time to prepare for the Team event so both of us hope to quickly adjust our mindsets and get ready for the Teams. For XU Xin he has been preparing here for half a month to get ready for tonight. Tomorrow we will have a day off to rest and recover in preparation for the Team event so it will all start for us maybe the day after tomorrow from the Quarterfinals onwards.”   About playing with ZHANG Jike today as a team: “We both understand the situation we both completed our goal to reach the final and it’s for sure one of us will win and the other lose. Before we came to Rio we both were mentally prepared and have the understanding that regardless what the Singles outcome is we are still teammates to support each other for the Team event” said MA Long.    Sweden also needed only three to secure the place in the quarterfinal. Par GERELL Kristian KARLSSON and Mattias KARLSSON prevailed against FENG Yijun JHA Kanak and WANG Timothy.   After quarterfinal of the World Championships in February this year the bronze medal winners England met France once again. Like few months before it was Simon GAUZY who gave his team a dream start and also he had his avenge for the defeat in previous duel against Liam PITCHFORD.   Emmanuel LEBESSON lost the decisive game in Kuala Lumpur but tonight he gained parity for France in the second match. In another full five games duel he beat Paul DRINKHALL. In doubles Tristan FLORE and LEBESSON was two games in reverse before they recovered to beat Samuel WALKER and DRINKHALL. France had advantage once again. In the next match FLORE had 2:0 against PITCHFORD but Liam recovered and even saved the match point to push Great Britain into the decisive match.   In the decisive game of the decisive match GAUZY had a match point but failed to seal the duel. WALKER seized his opportunity one minute later and won the match.    WALKER who was not selected to play singles for Great Britain stated after his unlikely win : “I was very focused obviously it is a noisy hall. But the support of our guys and it was amazing that kind of helped me get through it. When he (Gauzy) was up 10-7 (in the decider) I was still focused and I never stopped believing that I could still win it and I did. I am stoked!”  

2016 Rio Olympic Games     In the opening round of the Women’s Team event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Brazil confronted China the top seeds. The defending champions and favorites to add to the titles secured in 2008 in Beijing and four years later in London prevailed in straight matches. Germany overcame USA on their way to the quarters.   HAN Ying and SHAN Xiaona overcame ZGEN Jiaqi and ZHANF Lily whilst Petrissa SOLJA and SHAN Xiaona went full distance against USA doubles composed of WU Yue and ZHENG.   HAN Ying said: “I was so nervous before the match but I came through; ZHENG Jiaqi is quite good against defence.”   In all European duel Austria prevailed against Netherlands. LIU Jia was a pivotal player for Austria. She beat LI JIao and Britt EERLAND whilst LI Jie brought the only point for the Dutch team.   LIU Jia said: “I have played Li Jiao many times and I always used to win but recently I think I’ve lost at least four times the European Games the Super League the European League and the World Championships. In the first game I made so many mistakes I lost the first seven points of the match. Today I tried to make some changes and eventually things worked out.”   Seeded no. three Singapore also secured opening round win against Egypt whilst DPR Korea overcame Australia. Only one match which went full distance was the one between the seventh seed Republic of Korea and Romania seeded at the position no. 12.   World’s no 11 JEON Jihee beat player currently ranked at the position no. 30 Elizabeta SAMARA in straight games to give her team a dream start. The duel between 17th player at the World rankings SUH Hyowon against the World’s no. 58 Daniela DODEAN MONTEIRO went in favour of the lower ranked player. Daniela and Bernadette SZOCS could not keep the winning course in next clash. JEON partnering YANG Haeun secured advantage once again. On her second return to the table SAMARA gained parity for Romania. She beat YANG and the match entered the fifth nail biting decisive game. SZOCS’s attacking skills versus SUH’s defence streched the favorite to full five games but the last game finished in the favor of Korea’s player.   Japan succeeded against Poland. Katarzyna GRZYBOWSKA-FRANC suffered by the hands of Kasumi ISHIKAWA Mima ITO overcame LI Qian; combination of Natalia PARTYKA and GRZYBOWSKA-FRANC lost against Ai FUKUHARA and Mima ITO.

MIZUTANI beat SAMSONOV to win the first bronze for Japan   The new Olympic champion is MA Long. World’s no 1 beat London’s Olympic champion ZHANG Jike  in straight games (14-12 11-4 11-4 11-4) in the final encounter in the Men’s Singles Event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Jun MIZUTANI become the first ever male player from Japan to win a medal in the table tennis events at an Olympic Games. On his historic path MIZUTANI halted the progress of Belarus Vladimir SAMSONOV in the battle for the third step at the medal rostrum. Occupying the no.4 seed position in the competition he overcame Vladimir SAMSONOV of Belarus the no.7 seed in five games (11-4 11-9 6-11 14-12 11-8).   For SAMSONOV fourth place is his best ever finish in an Olympic Games; his previous most successful conclusion being a quarter-final place in 1996 in Atlanta and four years later in Sydney. Vladimir SAMSONOV:    “It is definitely not a very good feeling to lose the bronze medal match. This is probably my last chance to get an Olympic medal as I don’t know if I will be at Tokyo” stated SAMSONOV.  “After my match with Dimitrij OVTCHAROV in the quarterfinals I was injured and probably did not really get into the game in this match. I also didn’t want to push my injury too hard. Although I missed the chance to win the 4th game the adrenaline made me just move on and forget.”   MIZUTANI was delighted .   “I feel very happy! This is the best feeling ever! SAMSONOV was not an easy opponent to play as we know each other very well. Although he came back and won a game and was close to winning the 4th I did not give up until the end.”   World champion MA Long beat Olympic champion ZHANG Jike to secure the 12th victory from 17 matches on their head-to-head record on the Table Tennis world circuit. Victory it was success for the fifth time for China for the fifth player; no player has ever won the title more than one.   LIU Guoliang was the first to secure gold when he won in Atlanta 20 years ago in 1996 he was followed in 2000 in Sydney by KONG Linghui; before more recently Ma Lin succeeded in Beijing in 2008 and four years ago ZHANG Jike was anointed in London.

Reigning World Champion Ma Long meets defending Champion Zhang Jike tonight for Olympic Gold   The Chinese pair of world champion Ma Long and the defending Olympic champion Zhang Jike will do battle tonight to be crowned the Rio 2016 Men’s Singles Champion in a battle of the titans in Riocentro 3.     Semifinals match between ZHANG Jike (CHN) and former world number one Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) endfed in favour of ZHANG. Suffering a rib injury from his quarterfinals match against current European Champion Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) the 40-year-old legend was sent to the hospital for treatment and evaluation of his injuries after the epic match with the third seed on 9 August.   After a day of rest and a dose of painkillers before the match against the two-time World Champion today the Belarussian put up a good fight against the defending Champion missing the first 3 games by a minimal two-point margin and taking the fourth game 11-6. ZHANG however proved too strong for the six time Olympian prevailing 4-1 (11-9 13-11 12-10 6-11 11-9).   “I think I played pretty well in the semifinals. It was a close match but I think I’m faster and had an advantage. Tonight I hope that I can play better and win. One more match!” shared the defending Olympic Champion.   SAMSONOV shared after his defeat “Of course I am disappointed it was very close in the second and third game. I had my chances. In the last game I was waiting for Zhang to make a mistake but he did not. I’m going to relax now and prepare for the bronze medal match. I hope to win tonight.”   SAMSONOV will now face MIZUTANI to fight for their first Olympic table tennis medal for their respective countries at the Bronze medal match tonight at 20:30pm local time.   World number one MA Long (CHN) booked first golden ticket to an Olympic Men’s Singles Final with a 4-2 victory over 8-time Japanese National Champion Jun MIZUTANI (JPN).   After winning the first 3 games comfortably 11-5 each the top seeded Chinese lost the next two to MIZUTANI 7-11 10-12 respectively before he could seal the sixth game 11-5 for a 4-2 victory over the world number six.   Looking to earn the Olympic Singles Gold in Rio to achieve a table tennis Golden Grand Slam MA said “I am very happy as this is my first Olympic finals. It was a difficult match particularly in the last 3 games.”   “Making the finals is extremely meaningful to me as this is the dream for all athletes. I’m looking forward to it. My opponent will be the strongest in the world and I don’t want go into the match with any pressure.”   The Gold medal match tonight between ZHANG and MA is expected to be one of the most spectacular of all time with 2015 World Champion and 2015 Men’s World Cup Champion MA aiming for his first Golden Grand Slam title and ZHANG fighting to achieve his second Table Tennis Grand Slam.   MA may have a better head to head record of 11-6 over the reigning World Champion but it was ZHANG whom Chinese netizens call as “born for the big stage” who generally does better in major tournaments like the Olympic Games.   ZHANG also expressed that “The previous matches are fought for my country; the Final is for myself.”   Tonight in Rio the world will find out who will emerge as the Rio 2016 Olympic Men’s Singles Champion.

In a rematch of the London 2012 Olympic Games Women’s Singles Final reigning World Champion DING Ning avenged her London 2012 loss to take the Gold medal from the defending Champion LI Xiaoxia (CHN) to become the Olympic Champion. The duo met four years ago at the London 2012 Olympic Games Women’s Singles Final with LI taking down DING 4-1 to win the Olympic Gold. Today at Riocentro Pavilion 3 where all the Olympic table tennis actions went on both players pushed each other to the full limit in the final showdown but this time the result was reversed. With the support of her fans who flew all the way from China DING was not going to let history repeat itself fighting back from two to three games down to take her revenge 4-3 (11-9 5-11 14-12 9-11 8-11 11-7 11-7) against LI. “This is unbelievable! I can’t believe that I am Olympic champion. I have waited so long for this it is a dream come true!” shared the top seed who broke down into tears after her victory and ran to hug her coach seated in the spectator zone. DING added “I think it was difficult for both my Coach CHEN Bin. I have so many titles but I have never hugged him after my victories. Tonight it’s all beyond words. At that last moment it was a contest of determination.” “London made me more experienced. I was able to forget the sad memory of the defeat and focus on the match. Going into the Final I told myself just to fight for my dream.” With the Olympic Singles Gold in bag the world number two is only the fifth female athlete to achieve the table tennis Grand Slam. Already crowned the Grand Slam Champion in 2013 when she won the World Table Tennis Championships LI remained calm and shared that Rio will be her last Olympic Games: “I can’t keep up this high level training. My body is not getting any younger. I tried to retire at the start of the year but they asked me back because they needed me. I will come back again if they need me but the current team is very strong so I think they will be ok.” “This was a great opportunity for me to return to the Olympic Games. I had a lot of injuries at the start of the year physically and internally. In 2015 I was hospitalized for ammonia. I had a lot of thigh troubles. For me right now the training is too much to handle. I did fulfill my task and defended against the international player and made the final.” LI also commented on their rematch “Four years ago I had no burden and no expectations going into the Games. Now I have more burden as there are more requirements of me from the leader. I regret that I didn’t have more time to practice as the result might have been different. I did not have enough practice so I could not control the pace of the game. Congratulations to Ding Ning.” Determined not to go home empty handed on her birthday KIM was all pumped against Ai FUKUHARA in the Bronze medal match to take home DPR Korea’s first ever Olympic table tennis medal. The Olympic debutant raced to a 3-0 lead in just 23 minutes into the match. Despite FUKUHARA’s efforts to turn the tides in her favor by taking the fourth game 14-12 the four time Olympian failed to break past the defensive blocks of KIM. KIM eventually prevailed 4-1 (11-7 11-7 11-5 12-14 11-5). “Although I only got the Bronze medal I am still very happy” stated the 21-year-old. “I want to present this medal to our great supreme leader.” More table tennis action continues today at Riocentro Pavilion 3 with the Men’s Singles Semifinals.

Reigning World Champion DING Ning has conquered all the major Women’s Singles titles in table tennis and is just short of an Olympic title to complete her table tennis Grand Slam. Determined to make her way through to the Final for her chance at the Olympic Gold the top seed ended DPR Korea’s KIM Song I’s Olympic singles run beating the birthday girl 4-1 (11-5 9-11 11-6 11-3 11-9). DING stated “She was really hard to play with getting all the balls back on the table. During the timeout coach Kong told me to stay calm and not panic to be clear of the situation before making any attacks.” The world number two added “For me my task to defend my half of the draw is completed now. I hope to make my trip to Rio worthwhile and look forward to playing my game tonight.” In her top form on her fourth Olympic quest Ai FUKUHARA has not dropped a single game on her road to the semifinals. Her winning streak was broken today when she met with defending champion LI Xiaoxia in a one-sided semifinals encounter at Riocentro Pavilion 3. The Grand Slam Champion was in invincible form crushing FUKUHARA 11-4 11-3 11-1 11-1 to make her way through to the Final giving the Japanese star no chance to recover in the match. “I didn’t expect to finish the match so easily. FUKUHARA has swept her previous matches 4-0 so I was prepared to play 7 games or that I could even lose.” said LI in an CCTV interview after her match. “I was mentally strong in the match.” Li added that “When we were training we made a lot of strategies to (counter) her we focused on her strategies so we knew how to compete with her.” Already playing her best Olympic Games tournament in Rio FUKUHARA shared “She was so strong. I couldn’t get anything past her. There will be a bronze medal competition later this evening so I want to switch my mind towards that.” “It’s basically the difference in level. She was better than me. I have to accept this and look forward to the next match.” FUKUHARA and KIM will now meet at later tonight at 20:30 local time to fight for a historic first Olympic bronze medal for respective countries. With their victories DING and LI will face off each other in the Gold medal match 21:30 local time tonight for the final showdown for Olympic glory. The Chinese duo competed against each other four years ago at the London 2012 Olympic Games women’s singles Final. Back then DING who was the favorite for Gold in London received yellow and red cards for her serves. Mentally stressed by the penalties DING couldn’t hold her pressure and lost 1-4 to the eventual Champion. She shared after her defeat in London “I was affected by the judge. After the first one (point penalty) I tried to keep cool but could not hold it after the second.” Now four years later they are set to go at it again with an exciting tie on the cards. Tonight in Rio will we see DING taking revenge for her London 2012 loss or a repeat of history with LI defending her title?

Pre-Selection Camp II in Hungary     The city of Kiskunfelegyhaza situated about 110 km south east of Budapest hosts second Pre-Selection Camp. Hungarian camp is in the ETTU / ITTF – Europe Eurotalents Project Talent Identification & Selection program. With record breaking number of 47 players from 16 countries the Camp set a new milestone in the already very succesful project.   “We have excelent conditions for individual work with eight trainers and 15 sparing partners coming from Hungary” said ETTU Development Manager Eurotalents TI&S prof. Neven CEGNAR.   The Head Coach (Organizer) is Ferenc KARSAI of Hungary whilst assistant coaches are Attila HALMAI and Levente ARANYOSI.

2016 Rio Olympic Games   Vladimir SAMSONOV will feel the heat of the battle for medal at the Olympic Games. Quarterfinalist in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney four years later this time went one step further. In the quarterfinal of the Men’s Singles Event at the 2016 Olympic Games Belarus star beat Germany’s Dimitrij OVTCHAROV 4:2 (8-11 11-7 19-17 4-11 11-2 14-12).   “It was a really strange match after my injury” said SAMSONOV. “I couldn’t play hard forehand topspin so I had to change something tactically I had to play a bit slower and more passively. We have known each other for so long we are in the same club we are friends and it’s not easy playing injured friend he struggled.”   In the semi final he will meet China’s ZHANG Jike.   “I’m getting closer to a medal but the players I’m going to face are very strong and I will have to see how badly injured I really am. I need to go to the hospital. I have problems with my ribs several times for the past six years. I really hope it’s not bad.” In the second game he lost his footing when trying to execute a forehand top spin with the score at 7-4 in his favour. He finished sitting on the floor; he lost the next point and asked for a break owing to pain in his right side.   Bronze medalist from London 2012 Dimitrij OVTCHAROV said:   “SAMSONOV and I play for the same club we know each other very well. and of course we know the skills and weaknesses of each other very well. It was a tough match from the beginning.”   Gold medalist in London China’s ZHANG Jike booked his place in the semi-finals; the no.3 seed he accounted for Japan’s Koki NIWA the no.17 seed in five games (5-11 11-4 11-7 11-7 11-4). Jun MIZUTANI of Japan beat Marcos FREITAS of Portugal (4-11k 11-9 3-11 8-11 12-10).