13th Chinese National Games: Singles & Team Preview

A very late preview but hopefully it's not too late and will help you enjoy the 13th Games more!  (check out the CNG intro, XD preview and WD preview and MD preview and WT preview and MT preview here). Since the draw of team events (knock-off stage) and singles event were announced on 29 August, there are not much time for me to write separate previews. So this will be a brief preview regarding the singles event and team event (knock-off stage).

13th Chinese National Games: The Draw (All Including Singles) & Schedule

The draw of the singles events was secretly announced when the men's team competition was undergoing. Have a look at the draw and schedule below and make your prediction on who is going to stand on the podium! After all, physical strength, mental toughness, technique and luck are part of the competition.

CNG Throwback: The End Of The Penhold Heyday

How often do we see a female penholder playing in the semifinals or later rounds in the women's singles? Penholders used to have prestigious achievements in the past. However the shakehanders are the majority of the table tennis world in nowadays. We seldom find penholders in the women's field (Shan Xiaona, Ni Xialian and Zhang Qiang to name a few) not to mention in the later rounds of the competition. CNG throwback is going to cover the bronzer medal match of the women's singles at 2005 Chinese National Games. A match between penholder and shakehander.

Photo: 中体在线

13th Chinese National Games: The Seeds (Singles Event)

CTTA made an announcement about the seeds of the singles event at the 13th Chinese National Games. The seeds are ranked based on their World rankings and rankings at the 2016 Chinese Nationals and 2016 CTTSL.

CNG Throwback: The Most Exciting Women's Single Final Ever?

In the previous CNG throwback, we have looked at the match of the 2-time men's singles National Games champion. While there is only 1 person being able to win 2 men's singles title at the Games, there are 3 athletes who have won 2 women's singles title in a row. They are Jiao Zhimin (winning at the 5th and 6th Games), Deng Yaping (at the 7th and 8th Games) and Zhang Yining (at the 10th and 11th Games). Today we will look at Zhang Yining's first women's singles title at the Games at 2005 Chinese National Games women's singles final.

Day 7 Results: Men's Singles & Women's Singles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 7 Results: Save the Best for Last

The last day of the meet always has the most spectacular matches, even in the preliminary round. The men's singles came up with fierce competitions. Celebrations for some and upsets for the others. Most seeded players in the women's singles defended their spots but the process was not easy at all.

In men's singles, Lin Gaoyuan (Guangdong) and Shang Kun (Shanghai) were forced out by the unknown penhold short-pips players, Wang Linkun (Hunan) and Jie Jianwei (Yunnan) respectively, giving away the chance to qualify to the Chinese National Games. (Watch Lin's match here!) There is no hope for Shang Kun to qualify to the Games but Lin Gaoyuan will have a second chance, if he makes his way to the podium in the Worlds this year. After Lin Gaoyuan took the ticket to Worlds, the coaches and the media have high hopes on him. In return, he overworked himself. However great haste is not always good speed. Fortunately this was just the prelims but not the Worlds. We hope he have learned a lesson from this experience.

Day 6 Results: Men's doubles, Women's doubles and Men's singles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 6 Results: The Calm Before the Storm

Day 6 of the competition includes men's doubles, women's doubles and men's singles. There are a few surprises but nothing mind-blowing. 

The biggest black horse in the women's side, Zhao Lin (Guangxi), has surprised us again in the women's doubles after her impressive 12-straight-win in the prior team competition. She and her partner, Hao Hao (Tibet) forced the renowned national team members Chen Xingtong / Wen Jia (Liaoning) to the last set. Despite losing the match, their performance wins the hearts of the audience. 

Other top-seeded doubles did not face challenges from the young. Xu Xin / Ma Long (Shanghai / Beijing) and Ding Ning / Liu Shiwen (Beijing / Guangdong) romped to victory, using less than 15 minutes to end the match. Well, their victory does not surprise us but we did not expect the competition was that incredibly short. Maybe a few exhibition points at the end of the set next time?

Bounce back is the key word of the men's doubles. There were several matches started with a 0-2 deficit and bounce back winning 3-2, including Ren Hao / Xia Yizheng (Henan) Vs. Xu Chenhao / Zhao Zhaoyan (PLA),  Fan Shengpeng / Cheng Jingqi (Hebei)  Vs. Chen Peng / Cao Meng (Ningxia) and Zhao Zihao / Kong Lingxuan (Shanghai / Shandong) Vs. Liu Jikang / Hao Shuai ( Liaoning / Tianjin) [Watch here on the left]. There is also a 'bounce back' in men's singles, Song Xu (PLA) Vs. Wang Chuqin (Beijing) [ Watch here]. Regarding these I conclude table tennis is like tossing a coin, you never know whether you will win or lose until the last point ends.

In yesterday's competition we saw a wide range of playing styles. The penhold, the choppers, the short-pips...After rounds of competitions, Wu Yang (Shanxi) and Hu Limei (PLA) is the only defensive pair who qualify to the Chinese National Games while the others are dominated by the conventional shakehand players playing with inverted rubber. Thanks for the policies that each team must comprise of a penhold player or chopper for the men's and a penhold player for women's team, choppers and penhold players will not become 'extinct' in the Chinese National Games.

Last but not least, congratulations to the pairs who qualify to the final stage! Check the results below. There will be men's singles and women's singles tomorrow!

Day 5 Results: Mixed Doubles, Women's Singles, Men's Singles -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims

Day 5 Results: 1 Plus 1 is Larger Than 2 ? The Chemistry in Doubles

The mixed doubles have definitely added some finishing touches to today's competition.

Disappointing results for Fang Bo and Chen Meng. The partnership of two strong players from Team Shandong did not make their way to Tianjin (the final stage), losing 3-1 to Xu Yingbin and Liu Ming (Hei Longjiang / Yunnan). Fang Bo and Chen Meng did have a chance of winning the match as they won the 2nd set with 11-1 and had a lead in the 3rd set but inconsistency has cost them the qualification to the final stage. The two young players, Xu Yingbin and Liu Ming are the black horse of the meet. They beat Shang Kun and Feng Yalan in the first round and have played well throughout the competition. We look forward to seeing the emergence of the two young players.

The defeat of Fang Bo and Chen Meng may suggest two strong players do not necessarily form an unbeatable doubles as the pairs need to adapt to their partner's playing style and make the chemistry work together. Fan Zhendong and Zhu Yuling (PLA / Sichuan) on the other hand, demonstrated a good partnership. Zhu Yuling is known for playing rallies but lacking a bit of power. Fan Zhendong's powerful backhand has compensated this shortcoming, making a easy clean sweep in the mixed doubles.

Who Vs Who? -- 13th Chinese National Games Prelims Draws (MS/WS/MD/WD/XD)

The draws of the remaining events have announced! Since this is the qualifications of the Chinese National Games, this competition will not come up with the medalists. Names highlighted in yellow are seeds of the competitions. Comment below and guess who we will see in late August in Tianjin!


Mixed Doubles Draws

Coming Up this April -- 2017 Asian Championships Schedule

2017 Asian Championships is less than a month away and finally ittf has announced the general schedule (click here)! For your information, the competition is held in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, a beautiful city also known as 'the Pearl of the Taihu Lake' and the local time is (GMT+8). Make sure you follow the matches on time!

Here is the brief version of the schedule in local time (GMT+8):

The 'Hardy Hundreds' -- Line-up of the Chinese National Games Prelims

Ready for more names and tables? Here are part of the line-up. The list is too long, so I have listed some of the more-heard teams and pairs. If you want a complete line-up, click here. 

Marvellous 12 Results -- Stage 1 to Stage 3 of 2017 Chinese Trials for WTTC

Participants of Stage 1 of the Marvellous 12, Table Tennis Chinese Trials for WTTC

Men
Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin

Xu Chenhao, Liang Jingkun, Fang Bo, Zhou Yu

Yan An, Liu Dingshuo, Lin Gaoyuan, Zhou Qihao

Women

Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen, Zhu Yuling, Chen Meng

Feng Yalan, Mu Zi, Chen Ke, Li Jiayi

Wang Manyu, Yuan Xuejiao, Wu Yang, Gu Yuting

Marvellous 12 Competition Format -- 2017 Chinese Trials for WTTC

Competition format of the Marvellous 12

Stage 1: Round robin of 12 players will play the best-of-3 format. The leader of stage 1 (Fan Zhendong & Liu Shiwen) will take the spot to wttc, skipping stage 2 and 3 of the Marvellous 12.