More Table Tennis in the Year of the Dog

Photo: 刘国梁's Weibo

Happy Chinese New Year, readers! It's Chinese New Year, and as always, that means holidays and many celebrations. As we are still enjoying the long holiday, the Chinese athletes are busy in all sorts of activities, such as showing up in a Chinese New Year Gala and training for the upcoming Team World Cup this February in London.

2018 Team World Cup Selection Results

After 2 days of intense trials, Chen Xingtong and Wang Manyu end up top 2 among 7 players and will join Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling to compete in the 2018 Team World Cup which will be held in London from 22 to 25 February. The Chinese team will be sending Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, Lin Gaoyuan and Yu Ziyang to compete in the men's team competition.

Recap: 2017 Men's World Cup

Photo: ITTF

The 2017 Men's World Cup concluded unexpectedly with an all-German finals. Dimitrij Ovtcharov won his first ever World Cup champion, his compatriot, Timo Boll placed second and Ma Long from China settled for third.

2017 Asian Cup: Rosters & Schedule & Live Stream Links

Photo: TFFI

We're 3 days away from the 2017 Asian Cup, to be held in Ahmedabad, India, from 15 to 17 September. 32 top table tennis athletes from Asia will be competing for the men's singles and women's singles title.

13th Chinese National Games: Men's Doubles Preview

In the past week, we have watched some men's doubles competitions from the past Games. If I have to describe the men's doubles competition in one sentence, I might want to borrow a quote from Forrest Gump. "Men's doubles competition at the Chinese National Games is like a box of chocolate!" You never know who is going to win. It's unpredictable, dramatic, exciting and enjoyable to watch! So let's get into it right away (catch up the CNG intro, XD preview and WD preview here). 

13th Chinese National Games: Mixed Doubles Preview

Now that you know the background of the Chinese National Games and athletes who have qualified to the main draw, we can move on each of the events, starting from the mixed doubles (catch up the CNG intro here). 

In Translation: Table Tennis Documentary About The Marvellous 12

As the big events like World Championships and World Tour platinum have ended, there are not many occasions where the top Chinese players show up. With 49 days left to go before the Chinese National Games, most athletes choose to utilize every minute they have to train behind the closed door. Well, we can still find some in T2 APAC, a pan-regional table tennis league and UTTL, India's professional table tennis league. However the number of Chinese players is nowhere near the Chinese National Games and the Marvellous 12. Fortunately, Tecent Sports has presented a documentary (was taken down after the Chendu Three incident) about the Marvellous 12 just in time to fill up the off season. 

Recap: 2017 Dusseldorf WTTC

Hello, it's been a long time for not updating. I'm not being lazy but because it has been a long busy week (following matches, translating interviews...). I've been catching up some matches of 2017 WTTC recently because there were so many amazing matches played simultaneously in the championships. If you have missed some matches, you can catch up or re-watch the matches on ITTV like what I've been doing these days. I have not covered every match of 2017 WTTC (as there are too many of them but I might catch up more eventually) but the followings are a summary and my thoughts on 2017 WTTC. Please comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on 2017 WTTC!

Throwback Thursday: The Rising Star -- Lin Gaoyuan

As 2017 World Championships is around the corner, this week's Throwback Thursday features Lin Gaoyuan, who is going to make his World Championships debut in Dusseldorf. Two months ago, Lin Gaoyuan flared up the Marvellous 12, 2017 Chinese Trials for WTTC. He surprised everyone by beating Olympic champion Xu Xin twice and many other great Chinese players in the trials and clinched the second ticket to 2017 Dusseldorf World Championships where he will play in the men's singles. 

Photo: Osports

Day 4 Results: Women's Team, Men's Team and Mixed Doubles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 4 Results: Liu Shiwen Fought Hard But Cannot Help, Team Guangdong is Out

Last Day for the Team Competition and the Mixed Doubles starts the night. Check the following results to see which teams will be playing in the Chinese National Games scheduled on 28 August, 2017!

The match of the day goes to Shanghai Vs Guangdong in the women's team.

Day 3 Results: Women's Team and Men's Team -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 3 Results: Ma Long was Given a Mercy Point! The Young Challenging the Top

Day 3! Another day of the team competitions. Several decisive matches have been played today. Some teams have secured their spots to the final stage while some leave the suspense till the last match. Which team will qualify to the final stage of the Chinese National Games?

Check the results below! 

Day 2 Results: Men's Team & Women's Team -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 2 Results -- First Taste of Victory for the Amateur Team Macau 

Day 2 of the men's team and women's team event came up with quite a breakthrough for Macau women's team. There are 33 teams competing in the preliminary round but not all of them are professional table tennis players.

More than the Marvellous 12 -- Team Draws of the Chinese National Games Prelims

We are always amazed by the dominance of the Chinese table tennis team but seldom do we see the depth of the team. With only three being up in the Olympics and five in the Worlds, many magnificent Chinese players do not get the chance to play internationally. Now we will have the chance to see some of the less-popular but great players and newcomers playing in the prelims of the Chinese National Games.

The Prelims of the Chinese National Games, Table Tennis
The prelims of the table tennis event will be held from 23 March to 29 March in An Shan, Liaoning Province, the city where many great players like Ma Long, Fang Bo and Li Xiaoxia are from. There are seven events, namely, men's team, women's team, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.Players will represent their home province to compete in the National Games. This is also the first time that players are allowed to pair up with players from different provinces in the doubles events.

In Translation: Coach Liu: "Lin has Shuffled the Men's Rankings" -- Closing Speech of 2017 Marvellous 12 with Eng Sub

Coach Liu wrapped up the Marvellous 12 by commenting the 6 players who have reached stage 3 and presented the tickets to the Worlds to the 4 players, Fan Zhendong, Liu Shiwen, Lin Gaoyuan and Ding Ning. Here is the closing ceremony of the Marvellous 12 with English subtitles.

In Translation: 2 Spots Set, Who Will Be the Remaining? -- Post-Marvellous 12 Press Confernece

After a week of intense competition, the Marvellous 12 has finally come to an end. Table tennis fans may be satisfied with the great matches played by the 'marvellous' players but many questions has popped out from our mind as well. The head coach of the Chinese table tennis national team, Liu Guoliang, answered some of them in the press conference. Here is the translation of the press conference.To watch the entire press conference, click here.