In Hong Kong and Cary, North Carolina; Continental Olympic qualification tournaments concluded. After a shock defeats in stage one at the Asian Olympic Qualification tournament in Hong Kong, MA Long of China the world no.1, and RYU Seung Min of Korea, the, In Hong Kong and Cary, North Carolina; Continental Olympic qualification tournaments concluded. After a shock defeats in stage one at the Asian Olympic Qualification tournament in Hong Kong, MA Long of China the world no.1, and RYU Seung Min of Korea, the 2004 Olympic champion, duly booked their London places by succeeding in stage two of proceedings. Success for two star names and in Cary, two young ladies from the United States caught the eye; 15 year old Lily ZHANG and 16 year old Ariel HSING both qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament Qualifiers for London 2012 Olympic Games Men: LEUNG Chu Yan (HKG), Koki NIWA (JPN), MA Long (CHN), RYU Seung (KOR), KIM Hyok Bong (PRK), KIM Song Nam (PRK), JANG Song Man (PRK), Soumyajit GHOSH (IND) Women: GUO Yue (CHN), RI Myong Sun (PRK), Sayaka HIRANO (JPN), SEOK Ha Jung (KOR), CHEN Szu-Yu (TPE), Nanthana KOMWONG (THA), RI Mi Gyong (PRK), Ankita DAS (IND) North American Olympic Qualification Tournament Qualifiers for London 2012 Olympic Games Men: Andr HO (CAN), Pierre-Luc HINSE (CAN), Timothy WANG (USA) Women: Ariel HSING (USA), Lily ZHANG (USA). Note: ZHANG Mo (CAN) had already qualified as result of winning the Women’s Singles title at the Pan American Games in 2011. (by Ian MARSHALL, courtesy ITTF) Photo: Koki NIWA (Photo Roscher)

China’s MA Long, the player who stands at the top of the current Men’s World Ranking list and Korea’s RYU Seung Min, the Athens 2004 Olympic champion, were both sensationally beaten at the semi-final stage of the Men’s event at the, China’s MA Long, the player who stands at the top of the current Men’s World Ranking list and Korea’s RYU Seung Min, the Athens 2004 Olympic champion, were both sensationally beaten at the semi-final stage of the Men’s event at the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Hong Kong. In the matches to determine first two players at the tournament to gain their passports to London, MA Long was beaten by Japan’s 17 year-old Koki NIWA, currently listed at no.18 on the Men’s World Rankings, whilst RYU Seung Min lost to Hong Kong’s LEUNG Chu Yan. Currently RYU Seung Min is world ranked no.15; LEUNG Chu Yan is at no.35. MA Long and RYU Seung Min, the two players who received direct entries to Stage Two, now progress to Stage Three; five places remain, the door is still open. Meanwhile in the counterpart Women’s event there was less drama and success for China. GUO Yue, who has Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals as a result of her efforts at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, duly booked her place in London. She beat DPR Korea’s RI Mi Gyong. Defeat for DPR Korea but they did enjoy success; RI Myong Sun booked her place in London by overcoming Thailand’s Nanthana KOMWONG. Meanwhile at the North American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Cary, North Carolina Justin HO (Canada) and Ariel HSING (USA) emerged successful in the first stage and thus booked their places in the respective Men’s nd Women’s events at the forthcoming London Olympic Games. Two further places for men and one for women are available in Cary; ZHANG Mo (Canada) has already qualified for the women’s event in London as a result of being crowned Pan American Games champion in 2011. (by Ian MARSHALL, courtesy ITTF) Photo: RYU Seung Min (Photo Roscher)