Heming Hu and Jian Fang Lay reign supreme in Oceania to reach ITTF World Cups.

May 27, 2019
3:35 pm
Europe Top-16 Cup

Τhe green and gold of Australia will be represented at both the ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cups later this year in Chengdu China after Heming HU and Jian Fang LAY won the respective men’s and women’s titles at the 2019 ITTF Oceania Cup in Bora Bora French Polynesia on Sunday 26 May.

If HU was impressive in the men’s competition the women’s draw was completely dominated by 46-year-old pen-holder Jian Fang LAY (AUS) who has now qualified for her third consecutive World Cup. The world no. 85 did not lose a single game en route to the women’s singles title which she sealed with a final victory over compatriot Parleen KAUR (11-6 11-5 11-5 11-5) having defeated ZHOU Jiayi (NZL) in the semi-final (11-3 11-3 11-1 11-8).

The 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup and Uncle Pop 2019 ITTF Women’s World Cup will both take place in Chengdu China later this year. The ITTF World Cups represent the second most prestigious events on the international table tennis calendar after the ITTF World Championships and they count towards the Grand Slam (Olympic Games World Championships World Cups).

Each of the 2019 ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cups will feature 20 of the globe’s top table tennis players 18 of which will have qualified through their respective Continental Cups together with the ITTF World Champion and a wildcard.

Here are the players who have qualified so far for the 2019 ITTF World Cups:

Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships: MA Long (CHN); LIU Shiwen (CHN).
China Construction Bank 2019 ITTF Europe Top 16 Cup: Dimitrij OVTCHAROV (GER) Vladimir SAMSONOV (BLR) Timo BOLL (GER); Petrissa SOLJA (GER) Bernadette SZOCS (ROU) Sofia POLCANOVA (AUT).
Universal 2019 ITTF Pan American Cup: Hugo CALDERANO (BRA) Kanak JHA (USA); Adriana DIAZ (PUR) ZHANG Mo (CAN).
Lion 2019 ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup: FAN Zhendong (CHN) Koki NIWA (JPN) Tomokazu HARIMOTO (JPN); ZHU Yuling (CHN) Kasumi ISHIKAWA (JPN) FENG Tianwei (SGP).
2019 ITTF Oceania Cup: Heming HU (AUS); Jian Fang LAY (AUS).

Further names will book their places at the 2019 ITTF World Cups via the ITTF Africa Cup (3-5 August in Lagos Nigeria).

WINTER: The best decision of my table tennis career

Since December 2024, Sabine WINTER’S career has followed only one direction sharply upwards. The key to this development lies in an extraordinary decision she made at that time: a complete...

From Jeju to Havířov: Eurospins Camp Continues to Unite European and Korean Youth

For the second time, young Europeans aged 13 to 16 are practicing in a joint Eurospins camp with their peers from South Korea. Last December it was in Asia, in...

ETTU celebrates 25 years of partnership with LIEBHERR

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) proudly marks 25 years of partnership with LIEBHERR, one of the world’s leading technology companies and a long-standing supporter of European table tennis. “For...

Webinar Social Media Conduct for Umpires and Referees attracts strong interest

As part of a new initiative, the ETTU Umpires and Referees Committee hosted a webinar dedicated to social media conduct for match officials, drawing significant interest from across the community....