What have been 2017 for you? We'll talk about some of the best players and remarkable moments of the year, but first: let's look back what has happened in 2017.The post-Olympic year is often a dynamic year as the field overall is trying out new things to prepare for the next Olympics. This year we see new faces coming into the international scene, familiar faces breaking records and shuffled the world rankings.
ITTF has done a really great job of summarizing this year's table tennis events (click here to watch) and capturing the spectacular shots of the year (click here to watch). If you have not watched them, I strongly encourage you to have a look at their effort. So, what makes this review different from the ITTF version? Well, Small Ball Spins the Big Ball is a very young blog that focus on China and it started out as a play after the Marvellous 12 (the Chinese Trials for 2017 WTTC). Therefore this review will cover the major table tennis events in 2017 with much emphasis on the Chinese table tennis world. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list nor is it meant to be a definitive one. I highlight the moments that strike me the most instead of listing the details of every event because to do so would have been rather dull.
Without further ado...
What's in China?
1. Marvellous 12 Dazzled In Shenzhen And The World
2017 is such an eventful year for the Chinese table tennis world. It started off with the Marvellous 12, the Chinese Trials for 2017 WTTC. After rounds of internal competition, the team came up with the top 12 men and top 12 women to compete for the spots for the 2017 World Championships. Surprising many of us, Lin Gaoyuan earned his ticket to the World Championships at his hometown Shenzhen and rocketed up the world rankings in 2017. Other than that, people can't stop talking about the amazing rallies and incredible shots in the match, such as Feng Yalan's switch hand shot (watch it here).
The tournament has tried out many first attempts.It is the first time ever that Chinese Trials was streamed on digital platform and being broadcast live on Youtube and Facebook channel; first to have multiple World champions and Olympic champions to commentate the tournament, first to have fancy fluff and promotions for the event, first to introduce innovative broadcast angles and the list goes on...The tournament was incredible and table tennis fans had a blast.
Check this tag Marvellous 12, to review the tournament!
2. Realizing The 4-Year Dream, Not The Olympics But The National Games
If the Olympic year is a big year for worldwide athletes than 2017 is a big year for Chinese athletes as the Chinese National Games was touched down in Tianjin 27 August to 8 September. Chinese National Games, held every 4 years, is the Chinese version of Olympics where athletes can prove themselves, make their name out there and achieve good results for their provincial team.
Team Shanghai, led by Xu Xin,defeated Team Sichuan and topped the podium in the men's team competition. They have dominated the entire quad and won every national men's team champion since 2014. When the Sichuan men enjoying their sweet silver, the Sichuan women, led by Zhu Yuling, won their historic women's team champion. In the individual events, Ma Long made history becoming the first male athlete to defend a men's singles champion. He also won silver in men's doubles teaming up with Xu Xin who played in pain after days of demanding competition schedule. The women's singles champion went to Ding Ning who won bronze in women's doubles partnering Liu Shiwen. Fan Zhendong and Zhou Yu defended their men's doubles champion while Gu Yuting and Mu Zi knocked out World championships women's doubles finalist and crowned the women's doubles champion. The mixed doubles gold went to a young but promising pair Wang Manyu and Yu Ziyang.
The athletes are incredible at what thy do. Their skills, passion and character shone through in the midst of the most pressured field of their career. Despite the team competition between grand-slam winner Zhang Jike and Xiang Peng had ended, their interaction continues. Zhang Jike pass down his experience and knowledge in table tennis to the younger generation. When the packed competition schedule had depleted their body, Xu Xin and Hao Shuai fought strong showing their incredible persistence in the men's singles quarterfinals. There were moments when disappointment stroke them but they did better afterward. Wang Manyu was in tears after losing twice against Zhu Yuling in team finals and women's singles. However she came back strong winning her first World Tour women's singles in Austrian Open. Cheng Jingqi's dream of making the national team ended when he was just 2 points short from advancing to the men's singles quarterfinals but he promised not to give up the sport that he likes.
Throughout the 10 days we saw so many examples of why we love this sport. We are constantly reminded the number one reason is not simply the high level of competition field but the spirit and quality of people who play it.
It's hard to summarize 10 days, 7 events with a paragraph. Have a look at the articles about the preliminary round (took place in Anshan in March) and the main round (took place in Tianjin in late August and September). They are just incredible!
3. The Future Of China
A few new faces burst onto the scene in 2017. Niu Guankai climbed up the rank in the national team with lightning speed. Winning the Chinese cadet boys' singles champion in August this year, he placed 3rd in the internal promotion competition in October and becomes the youngest member in the men's national A Team. Zhao Zihao and Zhang Yudong are the other 2 players who got promoted to the A Team in that competition. Xiang Peng and Kuang Li have some eye-catching performance at 2017 Chinese National Games. They, alongside with 2017 Chinese National Cadet Boys' singles 1st runner-up Liu Hanfeng, Chinese Junior National Boys' singles 3rd runner-up Liu Yebo and Cao Yantao who came first in the national team selection competition, made their way to the B Team this year. Not as young as the players mentioned above, 1993-born Xia Yizheng earned his spot in the A Team after finishing top 8 in the men's singles competition at 2017 National Games defeating Yan An in the round of 16.
Wu Yangchen, Li Yake, Zhang Binyue and Zang Xiaotong ended up top 4 in the Chinese National Cadet girls' singles and entered to the National B Team. Whereas Sun Yizhen and Huang Yingqi came first in the U17 and U15 national team selection competition and made to the women's B Team as well. He Zhuojia, Liu Fei and Hu Limei placed 1st, 9th and 12th in the internal relegation competition and got promoted to the A Team. Find more about the internal competition and the young athletes in "New Order in CNT"!
There are no Chinese National Championships in a National Games year while the Chinese Junior Championships is held annually as usual. Yu Heyi and Shi Xunyao took the boys' singles and girls' singles champion respectively. Check "2017 Chinese Junior Championships" for the full results. There were less media attention when it comes to the junior nationals. The only fan cam footage of this tournament can be found on 小灰泥的乒乓's Youku channel or watch the boys' singles final here.
4. 2017 CTTSL Is In Full Swing
Since it is the National Games year, the Chinese Table Tennis Super League (CTTSL) started off a bit late and will be concluded on 11 February 2018. 10 men's teams and 10 women's teams will be competing in 18 rounds and the team with the most number of matches won will walk away with the champion. We have made a guide that provides you the links to the schedule and results for each round. We also compiled introductions (Men, Women) that give you an overview of each team. It's never too late to follow this incredible table tennis league. Click this tag 2017-18 Chinese Table Tennis Super League (CTTSL) to read all articles related to the league!
5. Legendary Head Coach Liu Guoliang's Dismissal
2017 is a bumpy ride for the Chinese team and I personally think the most shocking news in the Chinese table tennis world should be the dismissal of Liu Guoliang. The Chinese National Team had a meeting in Anshan on 31 March and confirmed the posts and the collective goals of the team in the new Olympic cycle but things were not settled. Kong Linghui was sued right before the World Championships while soon after the World Championships Liu Guoliang stepped down from the head coach position and was assigned to be 1 of the 19 vice-presidents in CTTA. The sudden personnel changes had shocked the team and, in some sense , triggered the 6.23 incident, which Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin walked over the competition at 2017 China Open because they were literally missing Coach Liu Guoliang. Some said it was an ordinary reform while some said it was a power struggle among the officials. Well, we have no clue what had actually happened and the structure of the team after the incident. Let's just hope the team go through this chaotic year and continue to excel beyond Liu Guoliang.
You may want to look back at these articles:
6.23 Incident
Translation of CTTA's Statement
Liu Guoliang's Weibo after 6.23
Liu Guoliang Interview
6. Start Afresh
I would like to use the 2017 WTTC song 'Start Afresh' to end the Chinese part of 2017 in review. It is a tough year for the team with challenges from the Japanese and European players and changes within the team but these have never stopped the team from improving themselves and putting up spectacular performance in competitions. Like what they have sung, hardship is unavoidable on the road of a new start. Let's hope them start afresh in 2018 and play more amazing shots in the upcoming competitions.
The Chinese national team released song before World Championships and the 2017 edition is named 'Start Afresh' (watch it here) and have a look at "10 WTTC Songs Explained" to know more about the past 10 editions of WTTC song
Table Tennis in 2017
1. World Tours
2017 is such a dynamic year with 6 World Tour Platinum, 6 World Tour and the Grand Finals. The following list will not include everything from these meets but it highlights those who stood out and showed the potential to do big things for their countries in the world tour series.
Japan Open: 16-year old Sun Yingsha won women's singles champion in her senior international debut. She knocked out Doo Hoi Kem, Feng Tianwei, Shan Xiaona and Wang Manyu all the way and won 4-3 over Chen Meng in the finals.
China Open: Lots of drama happened in this year's China Open. There we have the 6.23 incident which Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin walked out the competition (details will be explained in the next part), leaving the podium wide open. Dimitrij Ovtcharov took this opportunity and crowned the men's singles champion.
Australia Open: Vladimir Samsonov won his 27th World Tour title at Australian Open. It is incredible for the 41-year old evergreen to maintain his competitive level for over 20 years and it is always enjoyable to watch his matches. He looks effortless when blocking powerful smashes from his opponents and his wide wingspan allows him to cover many wide angles shots.
Czech Open: Harimoto Tomokazu becomes the youngest athlete ever to win a men's singles world tour title. The promising 14-year-old has also achieve outstanding results in the World Championships and is definitely one of the athletes you would like to follow in the coming 4 years.
Austrian Open: China's next generation Wang Manyu and Lin Gaoyuan won their first world your singles champion.
German Open: The Chinese men had a waterloo at German Open and it was an all-German finals again since the China Open and the Men's World Cup. Timo Boll performed an insane move, 'The Dive' in the match against Lin Gaoyuan. Despite that move did not score for Timo Boll but it reminded us once again how incredible these athletes are.
Grand Finals: The Chinese recovered from their disappointing German Open. Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng won the Grand Finals title and the doubles champion went to the Japanese duo, Hina Hayata and Ito Mima (women's doubles), Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima (men's doubles).
2. Continental Championships
The German men's team won team gold at the European Championships after settling for second place a few years, so did the Romanian women's team.
The Chinese is not unbeatable. 17 -year-old Japanese player Miu Hirano defeated top Chinese players 3 times in a row and won the women's singles champion at the Asian Championships. Not only does her victory prove that the Japanese are capable of defeating the Chinese team, it has changed the trend of the women's game. The rise of Korean player Jeong Sang Eun had thrilled me as well. He knocked out Ma Long in the round of 32. The other Korean players had also posed some threats to the Chinese team in the men's team final. The following recap has summarized the Asian Championships and listed some matches you should have watched.
Liu Guoliang and Qin Zhijian Commented on the 2017 Asian Championships!
Recap: 2017 Asian Championships in 3 Minutes
Must-See Matches from the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships
3. World Junior Championships
China recovered from its disappointing result from last year and walked away with all 7 titles under their belt. Xue Fei won 4 gold medals and is the biggest winner of the tournament. However team China should never be carried away by success as the Japanese team had not sent their top squad to the championships. Truls Moregard from Sweden had pulled out some eye-catching performance. He knocked out China's Niu Guankai and won silver in the junior boys' singles after losing 1-4 to Xue Fei.
4. 2017 Taipei Universiade
5. World Cup
Check our recap on the Men's World Cup and Women's World Cup.
6. World Championships
The Chinese are the biggest winner in Dusseldorf winning 4 out of 5 medals with Ma Long defending Ding Ning defending their singles' title, Xu Xin and Fan Zhendong winning men's doubles gold and Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen winning the women's doubles champion.
The Japanese had a breakthrough moment in the World Championships. Kasumi Ishikawa and Maharu Yoshimura winning the mixed doubles gold. They also medaled in men's doubles, women's doubles and women's singles. Tokyo Olympic hopefuls Miu Hirano won a historic bronze medal at the women's singles and 13-year-old Harimoto Tomokazu is the youngest men's singles quarterfinalist ever.
There are many other exciting moments in the championships, check it out in our recap!
7. Mixed Doubles In 2020 Olympics
On 9 June 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that mixed doubles will be included to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics meaning that there will be 5 table tennis events in the 2020 Olympics. It is the first time that mixed doubles is included in the Games. I am glad to see that there is a separate event for the doubles again. Every nation tends to put less emphasis on the doubles since the doubles event were replaced by the team event in 2008 Beijing Olympics. Will the introduction of mixed doubles change the strategy of each nation? Who are the favorites for this event? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment box below.
8. The Leagues
A few new table tennis leagues has come into view in 2017, such as T2 APAC and UTTL These leagues tried out new competition format and makes table tennis more interesting to watch. I personally love these leagues as the leagues are sometimes more entertaining. If these competition format can attract more people to love the sport, we should have more of these competitions. What do you like about the leagues? What are the rules that you would like to introduce to the league?
Small Ball Spins The Big Ball in 2017
Small Ball Spins The Big Ball (SBSBB) is a very new blog, with less than a year of history but isn't it incredible that it has produced over 150 articles about table tennis? The blog was launched in March right after the Marvellous 12 so that non-Chinese table tennis lovers can know more about the trials without language barrier. The blog gradually develops to be a place where I share my thoughts on competitions, stories and interviews I came across on Chinese media. These are the things that I am passionate about but seldom could I share with my friends around me because they are not interested in it. It's a very special year for me and I am glad to have your support.
Here is a summary of the 11 series that SBSBB has launched in this blog in 2017.
1. From Rio To Tokyo
Wanna have some insights of the trend of table tennis in the next 4 years? This series is perfect for you. It reveals the vision and targets of the Chinese national team in the next Olympic cycle mentioned by the national team coaches in the meeting in Anshan in April.
2. The Y2Klub
Get to know the post-00s rising stars! The series introduces you to the future generation of table tennis with a few anecdotes and exciting match(es).
3. Throwbacks
A series that revisits some of the exciting or memorable moments in table tennis world. The CNG Throwback exclusively features matches from the last 12 Chinese National Games across the 7 events. Whereas Throwback Thursday is launched on Thursdays during the break or before the big meets preparing table tennis lovers for the upcoming events.
4. 2017 Chinese National Games
Our very first meet-coverage series that covers the entire national tournament from the preliminary round to the award ceremony and post-match interview. It provides in-depth introduction, previews, schedule, live stream links, draws, full results and daily summary of the competition which make following Chinese domestic competition live much easier.
5. 2017 CTTSL
Another meet-coverage series that provides overviews, schedule, full results and all the necessary information regarding CTTSL so that language would not be a barrier for you to follow such a high level league.
6. Recap
It is meant from what it is stated, RECAP! The blog makes recap, or summary whatever you name it, on big meets such as the World Championships, National Games, World Cup etc. The recaps are the great guide for you to catch up the matches you have missed.
7. In Translation
This is a big category that includes translated interviews, articles and documentaries and reveals the inside story of the table tennis world.
8. Features
Just in case you are interested in the inside story and interviews of an athlete or an event or an incident, this big category will meet your needs. Basically it is everything other than competitions.
9. Meet Coverage
The meet coverage includes all the articles related to competitions including the live stream links, previews, results etc. You can find all our archived meet coverage in this tag.
10. Best Of 2017
Our latest series that lists the best people, the moments, the events and things in 2017.
11. Your View
We welcome all your comments in all of our posts but we would like to make this blog a bit more interactive. Therefore, in Your View, you will find polls and discussions that invite you to share your thoughts with other readers.
Time flies and the a quarter of the Olympic cycle has passed. I hope all athletes will stay healthy and may all their wishes come true in 2018.
Enjoy and leave comment if you have any other favorites or if you disagree with us, but also if you just want to tell us what your picks are.
Coming up this week: The results for 2018 Team World Cup Selection will be announced in the coming week; CTTSL is half-way through, find more about it in our round 9 predictions and the upcoming articles! Thanks for your support and comments. I wish you a happy new year.
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