Posts in category: International Events

The Matchroom Sport World Championship of Ping Pong gets underway this Saturday live on Sky Sports HD from London’s iconic Alexandra Palace. Watch out for Current Irish internationals John Murphy, Paul McCreery and the legendary Colum Slevin – the event will be broadcast on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th January on Sky Sports 2.

Players will initially compete in eight groups of eight in a double elimination format where two wins means progress to the last 32 while two defeats spells the end of the road.

With $20,000 handed to the winner from a total prize fund of $100,000 and 19 nations represented, spectators and TV viewers can expect a fierce competition.
With each competitor using specially commissioned traditional sandpaper hardbats rather than the sponge bats used in regular table tennis, the Matchroom Sport World Championship of Ping Pong will be more about skill, power and accuracy than spin.

“We are very excited to be staging this event,” commented Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn. “I believe that ping pong is a sensational sport that has a limitless potential to get bigger and bigger.

“We have 19 countries represented with players of all ages, both male and female, and this is something we will be looking to build upon in future years.

“Traditional table tennis players such as Andrew Baggaley, who has five Commonwealth Games medals to his name and represented Team GB at the London Olympics, will be up against players who have a proven track record in hardbat ping pong such as Graham Sandley and Denis Neale, so it should be a very interesting weekend.

“Ping pong is a game for all ages and nationalities and is a truly global sport. We want to bring the game to a new audience and with the entire event broadcast live on Sky Sports, I know this is something we can achieve.”

Tickets to the event will be available to purchase on the day at Alexandra Palace, priced £20 for adults and £10 for concessions per day. Saturday’s action begins at midday with play on Sunday commencing at 12:30pm.

A week after we celebrated the 75^th Anniversary of the ITTA, Team Ireland had a record breaking weekend in Guernsey at the Senior Six Nations.

The Womens Team of Na Liu and Ashley Givan were in fine form as they continue to inspire young girls across the country. On Friday they started the weekend with a 3-0 win over Jersey and a 3-1 win over Scotland. On Saturday Morning they beat Wales 3-0 and in the afternoon they beat Guernsey 3-1 with Ashley Givan only narrowly losing to Alice Loveridge in the 5^th set. This meant that as both England and Ireland had won all their matches up to this point their match was the title decider. It was level at 1-1 after the opening singles. The doubles would be crucial if Team Ireland were to hold on to their title. Na and Ashley went 2-0 down but came back to win the next three and ultimately the title, a great fighting performance by the ladies. It was a routine victory for Na Liu in the last singles as Ireland Women claim only our second Womens Gold and for second year in a row.

The Mens team of Paul McCreery, Gavin Maguire and John Murphy were keen to add to the success the other teams have been having at the Six Nations events in 2012. It was Murphy and Maguire who teamed up to beat Jersey 3-1 to start off their weekend. Then it was over to McCreery and Maguire to take a 3-0 victory over Scotland with McCreery beat Sean Doherty 11-2 in the fifth set. The same pairing saw off Wales in another 3-0 victory. McCreery and Maguire sealed a 4^th victory over home side Guernsey 3-0. Similarly to the Women the Men had to battle England for the title. McCreery beat David McBeath 3-0 and Maguire lost 3-1 to Gavin Evans. Again it was going to leave the doubles a very crucial match. The sides shared the opening two sets to leave it 1-1 but cruciallyIreland lost the third 12-10. They pulled it back to 2-2 but the English pair came out on top in the 5^th. McCreery also had a gruelling battle with Evans and was defeated in 5 sets. Therefore the Men had to settle for Silver.

As the Results came in and the tallies were added together Team Ireland added a first ever Gold Medal in the Combined Team Championship.

On Sunday it was the turn of the individual.

Paul McCreery and Na Liu won their opening groups with Maguire, Murphy and Givan all going through in 2^nd place.

Ashley Givan got a tricky QF draw against the 2^nd seed Alice Loveridge of Guernsey, Givan had narrowly lost in 5 sets in the team event and got off to a fantastic start taking the opening two sets. Loveridge pulled back the third but it was the fourth which was to be a momentous battle and deuce after deuce the game eventually went to Loveridge 20-18, that win seemed to give Loveridge the momentum she needed to take the match 11-6 in the fifth. On the other side of the Draw Na Liu saw off Angharad Phillips (Wales) and Gillian Edward (Scotland) to set up a final with Loveridge. Na Liu had too much experience for the home star and took the Gold Medal in straight sets. To give Na her third Gold medal of the weekend.

McCreery overcame Garry Dodd (Guernsey) and Maguire beat Craig Howleson (Scotland) in the quarters. However for 5 times National Champion John Murphy the quarters saw him exit with a 3-1 defeat to Evans of England. The Semis was an English/Irish affair and like the team event it was England who came out on top, McCreery lost to Evans and Maguire lost to McBeath.

So just to recap that’s 3 Golds, 1 Silver and 2 Bronzes. Well done #TeamIreland

A large contingent of Irish players travelled to the first ETTA Grand Prix of the event last weekend for the Liverpool Grand Prix. It was to be a fantastic start to the season for the Irish, with several impressive performances and event victories.

Top result of the weekend was Paul McCreery, who recorded his first Grand Prix win beating Gary Dodd and David Meads before facing Chris Doran in the Final. In a tight affair, McCreery fought back from 2-1 down to claim the match and title. He was not finished there however and recorded success on the double by claiming the Under 21 title – Daniel O’Connell would be his opponent in the final. The final finished 3-1 after Paul’s early 2-0 advantage was pegged back by Dan.

In the Women’s Singles, Ashley Givan was in superb form, having beaten Yolanda King and winner of group one Chloe Whyte to book her place in the final, both in four sets. In the final she was beaten by Karina LeFevre but was later named Tees Sport Player of the Tournament for her performances to reach the women’s singles final from an unseeded position and her attitude over the course of the weekend. 

Ashley is pictured here with Alan Ransome OBE receiving her prize. All Irish table tennis fans will hope Amanda Mogey has recovered from the injury that ruled her out of Liverpool in time for this weekend’s Senior Classification.

Other strong performances over the weekend included Edel O’Reilly claiming the Women’s Band 2 singles title. Edel came off the better in the all Ireland quarter-final against Sarah Timlin before defeating Scotland’s Lucy Elliot to book her place in the final. The final was a marathon effort against Corinna Whitaker with 3 points being the biggest winning margin. The title finally went to Edel 11-9 in the fifth set. Emma Ludlow also claimed the Band 4 Ladies title – a great win for the Ulster player. 

Declan O’Brien continued the Irish success in the Men’s Band 3 event. Declan beat Luke Savill in his quarter-final before advancing past Shaun Murray. Against Matthew Main in the Final, Declan fough hard to seal victory and another Irish title.

Ireland looked to maintain their success in the Women’s Band 3 singles event. Katie McGlone came from behind to win a five set battle against Paulina Orzechowska, before dispatching Gosia Muda 3-0. In the other half of the draw Lucy Zhu had her own five set battle against Nicole Finn before beating Zoe Cheesmen. The luck of the Irish wasn’t with Katie this time as she fell 3-0 to the youngster Lucy Zhu.

Congratulations to all of the Irish in action at the weekend, particularly to McCreery and Givan who will now look to bring their good form into the Senior Classification event this weekend.

Finalists in the Men’s Singles event at the GAC GROUP 2011 World Championships and at the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup later in the year, China’s Zhang Jike and Wang Hao meet again today.

They duly booked their places in the Men’s Singles gold medal contest at the London 2012 Olympic Games, following penultimate round success on the morning of Thursday 2nd August.

Both succeeded in five game duels.

Seeded no.2, Zhang Jike beat Germany’s Dimitrij Ovtcharov (11-8, 11-3, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8), before Wang Hao accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan (11-13, 11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-8).

Defeat for both Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Chuang Chih-Yuan but a higher finish than their seeding predicted.

Bronze Medal Contest

Chuang Chih-Yuan(pictured) was the no.5 seed, with Dimitrij Ovtcharov being the no.8 seed.

The two now meet in the bronze medal contest.

According to Form
Wins as ranking predicted and also as past form suggested.

Zhang Jike had played Dimitrij Ovtcharov on three previous occasions in World ranking events; on each occasion they had been closely fought duels. 

Past Results
In 2009 at the Danish Open, Dimitrij Ovtcharov had won in six games but in the two ensuing duels it had been success for Zhang Jike. 

He had won in 2010 at the quarter-final stage of the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup in six games and one year later in the first stage at the same competition; the decision being in seven games.

All had been close matches; the contest in the ExCeL Arena proved to be the most convincing when the result was taken into account but it was hard fought. 

Crucial Game
The fourth game was the crucial moment. Dimitrij Ovtcharov recovered; he saved a series of game points to trail 9-10; a rally ensued with a forehand top spin from Dimitrij Ovtcharov clipping the top of the net and flying long.

It was the pivotal moment, it gave Zhang Jike a major boost of confidence; a hard fought fifth game ensued by Zhang Jike was in the ascendancy; a place in the final was duly booked.

Favoured Chinese Star
Equally previous results between Wang Hao and Chuang Chih-Yuan pointed heavily in favour of the Chinese star.

The pair had met on 13 previous occasions with Wang Hao having succeeded in 11 of the duels. 

Furthermore he had won the most recent 10 duels. The first encounter at the Dutch Open in 2002 had been won by Wang Hao; the next two had gone the way of Chuang Chih-Yuan.

Winning Sequence Started in Athens
He won in 2002 at the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in Stockholm and then the following year on the ITTF Pro Tour at the Danish Open.

However, in Athens at the quarter-final stage of the Men’s Singles event at the 2004 Olympic Games, it was success for Wang Hao; he won in six games and he has won ever since.

First Game
In the ExCeL Arena, Chuang Chih-Yuan established an early lead in the first game, he won the first five points before Wang Hao responded. 

Wang Hao established a rhythm and at 10-9 went ahead for the very first time in the match.

Chuang Chih-Yuan responded, he captured the game 13-11, before being overwhelmed in the second. 

An Opportunity
However, in the third game he established a 10-8 lead. There was chance, an opportunity to put Wang Hao under immense pressure.

Third Time
It was not to be; Wang Hao won the next four points and the die was cast.
He secured the deciding game to the delight of ecstatic coach, Liu Guoliang, 

Wang Hao was in the Men’s Singles final at an Olympic Games for the third consecutive time

5 Irish players and 2 coaches are currently battling for results at the 2012 European Youth Championships in Schwechat, Austria. See below for an update on the performances in the Team events in advance of the Singles competition which gets underway today:

Cadet Girls Team

The Cadet Girls Team of Chloe O’Halloran and Hannah Lynch-Dawson were drawn in Group J against Ukraine and Bulgaria. This proved to be a stern test, and the girls lost 3:0 to Ukraine and 3:1 to Bulgaria, the only bright spot coming in Lynch-Dawson’s victory in 5 sets of Maria Yovkova.

The Girls moved into their second group, looking for a win. They were drawn against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and Armenia. They started well, with a fantastic 3:1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, combining very well to claim a doubles victory 11:9 in the 5^th, with Lynch Dawson also claiming two excellent victories in the singles. They then lost out 3:1 to Azerbaijan, Lynch-Dawson again on the mark, before closing out the group with a titanic 3:2 loss to Armenia. Again the girls combined well to record a doubles victory and Lynch-Dawson also claimed a win over Diana Khojagoryan(12:10 in the 5^th) but it was not enough to prevent the defeat.

Finally, the Girls faced Luxembourg in their play-off game, claiming a 3:0 victory, with another strong Doubles performance and Lynch-Dawson and O’Halloran both recording Singles victories. The team finished overall in 33^rd place. 

Junior Girls Team

Ireland had a tough draw in Group H against Austria and Bulgaria. The team made up of Ashley Givan, Edel O’Reilly and Elayna McGlone struggled in their first encounter against the host nation, suffering a 3:0 defeat. They fought back in their 2^nd match against Bulgaria in what was a thrilling encounter. The girls raced in to a 2:0 lead, with Givan and O’Reilly recording victories. McGlone was then beaten before Bulgaria caused a bit of a surprise, with Petrova beating Givan deuce in the 5^th set and Lazarova also defeating O’Reilly in the final set to claim the match for Bulgaria.

Ireland then moved into their 2^nd group, where they would face San Marino, Armenia and Belgium. Ireland claimed their first match over San Marino, with Ashley Givan recording two wins and McGlone storming to a win in an impressive performance over Chiara Boffa. In their next match, the girls again just missed out on the victory over Armenia in an agonising 3:2 defeat, Givan and O’Reilly claiming wins before O’Reilly was beaten by Llana Muradyan by the narrowest of margins, losing out 13:11 in the 5^th set. In their final match, Ireland were comprehensively beaten by a classy Belgian team who claimed the group victory.

In their play-off game, the Irish faced Kosovo and claimed 33^rd place with a 3:1 victory – Givan again consistent with two victories and O’Reilly also on the mark.