History: Hands Off the Table

 


Now that all the noise and excitement were over, leaving another 7-month break with no international competition (After multiple-postponement, 2020 World Championships is officially cancelled! Aw!!!). Perhaps it's time to review the RESTART series (the World Cups, ITTF Finals and WTT) launched last month and take a little time travel to see how people embraced the return of table tennis after a long, hard break in history.

RESTART: New Normal of Small Ball Spins the Big Ball


Table tennis is BACK!!! As the RESTART series starts off in November, table tennis has officially returned to the international scene. Though we might have to wait a few more months to see the doubles matches and handshakes between players, the COVID19 precautionary measures haven't eroded the intensity and excitement of table tennis competitions. If you haven't watched the World Cup Finals and the ITTF Finals, do catch them up (especially the finals) on ITTF. They are as good as the pre-COVID19 competitions, if not better.

Speaking of new normal, our blog 'Small Ball Spins the Big Ball' is also transitioning to a 'new normal'. Long-time followers may have noticed that I have significantly reduced the number of articles being published last year. Since I am no longer the student who has the luxury of time to follow table tennis news closely and write up the competitions on this blog.

I will try my very best to cover major events played in China, such as Chinese National Games, Chinese Nationals, Chinese Trials, CTTSL, Warm-ups and mock competitions
 whose English information is often hard to come by. And moving forward, I want this blog to be more of a platform for original works (possibly articles from the History / Throwbacks series) rather than write-ups of translated news. Therefore, this is going to be quality over quantity, meaning that updates will be made when I am free.

So, what do you all think? I really want to know.

2020 Chinese Nationals: Men's Singles Draws & Results [10 Oct Update]



Check out draws and results for the men's singles event.

2020 Chinese Nationals: Women's Singles Draws & Results [9 Oct Update]



Check out draws and results for the women's singles event.

2020 Chinese Nationals: Women's Doubles Draws & Results [10 Oct Update]


Check out draws and results for the women's doubles event.

2020 Chinese Nationals: Men's Doubles Draws & Results [9 Oct Update]



Check out draws and results for the men's doubles event.

2020 Chinese Nationals: Mixed Doubles Draws & Results [7 Oct Update]



Check out draws and results for the mixed doubles event.

2020 Chinese Nationals: A One-Stop Guide About Nationals


Perhaps you, like me, have already treated the 2020 Mock Olympics held in August was the Chinese Nationals and did not anticipate a real Chinese Nationals to be held this soon. In charitable effort to put fun back in life, China decided to hold the 2020 Chinese Nationals on 1-10 October, over the Golden Week holiday, which is a week of holiday in China that celebrates the Chinese National Day and Moon Festival (I'm extremely rad!!!). We'll put all the information you need to follow the Nationals in this post.

Recap: 2020 Japan All-Star Dream Match Played Under Strict COVID Measures


A very late recap of the 2020 Japan All-star Dream Match which was held on 14 September headlined by Kasumi Ishikawa, Hina Hayata, Harimoto Tomokazu, Koki Niwa and other 9 top Japanese players.

Catch Up: 2020 CNT Mock Olympics (Last Updated Aug 21)


It can be hard to follow every match in details, so we write you this 2020 CNT Mock Olympics catch up, sourcing replays and highlighting exciting matches from each day of competition, to help you save some time without missing the best moment of the tournament.

CNT Mock Olympics: Women's Team Draws & Results (Last Updated Aug 20)


Women's Team roster, draws and results from the 2020 CNT Mock Olympics, held from 8 to 21 August in Hainan, China.

CNT Mock Olympics: Men's Team Draws & Results (Last Updated Aug 21)


Men's Team roster, draws and results from the 2020 CNT Mock Olympics, held from 8 to 21 August in Hainan, China.

CNT Mock Olympics: Women's Singles Draws & Results (Last Updated Aug 13)


Women's singles draws and results from the 2020 CNT Mock Olympics, held from 8 to 21 August in Hainan, China.

CNT Mock Olympics: Men's Singles Draws & Results (Last Updated Aug 14)


Men's singles draws and results from the 2020 CNT Mock Olympics, held from 8 to 21 August in Hainan, China.

CNT Mock Olympics: Mixed Doubles Draws & Results (Last Updated Aug 10)


Mixed doubles draws and results from the 2020 CNT Mock Olympics, held from 8 to 21 August in Hainan, China.

2020 CNT Mock Olympics Scheduled For August 8-21 (Check How To Watch It Here!)



The Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) will hold the Mock Olympics from August 8-21 headlined by world champions Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, Chen Meng, Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu. National team members and former national team members, a total of 50 men and 42 women, will compete in 5 events over the 14-day competition, comprising teams and singles each for men and women, plus a mixed doubles which will be televised live on CCTV5 AND CCTV5+.