Worlds in Guangzhou. China

[Jose]

Good start for everyone : Results today show that England men beat Australia 3 - 0, England women beat Estonia 3 - 1, Ireland beat South Africa 3 - 1 and Scotland had two 3 - 1 wins against Kuwait and Armenia.
Let's hope they can keep going and move up the rankings!

[DaveR]

Just to carry on from Jose !

http://www.sportfocus.com/newsimage/joanna4.jpg



What a start for the England teams at the Evergrande Real Estate 49th World Championships in Guangzhou, China.

The Women faced Estonia in their first match, recent adverseries in the European League the Estonian team were comfortably beaten 3 games to 1, Kelly Sibley 2 games both in 5 sets, Jo Parker 1 and the single loss was suffered by Emma Vickers in a tight 5 set tussle with the experienced Karin Lindmae.

Next on stage were the Mens team who faced old enemies Australia, Australia were no match for our three youngsters, Darius started against the experienced William Henzell and took a excellent 3-1 win over the world no 130, Paul Drinkhall then recovered from 2-1 down to win 3-2 against David Zalcberg. Danny Reed finished off the match in style 3-0 over Kyle Davis.

The third and final match on day 1 was for the Women to face India, another akward team that has often beaten us in the past. A superb defensive display from Jo Parker overcoming Mouma Das in 4 sets and Poulomi Ghatak in 5 sets, in between Kelly Sibley chipped in with another 5 set win over Ghatak but Emma Vickers found the Indian no 3 Neha Aggarwal just too strong going down 3-0

We couldn't have wished for a more solid start but many stern challenges are to come over the next few days, for example the Men start proceedings tomorrow with a match against African Champions Nigeria and then face Canada in the Evening while the Women face the might of the all Chinese Australian team in between.

Results
Mens Team Group H
Australia lost to England 0-3
HENZELL William lost to KNIGHT Darius 11-7 7-11 6-11 7-11
ZALCBERG David lost to DRINKHALL Paul 7-11 14-12 11-8 8-11 4-11
DAVIS Kyle lost to REED Daniel 6-11 5-11 3-11

Womens Team Group E

Estonia lost to England 1-3
TSHISTJAKOVA Tatjana lost to PARKER Joanna 10-12 4-11 6-11
MOROZOVA Marina lost to SIBLEY Kelly 6-11 11-7 14-12 9-11 6-11
LINDMAE Karin beat VICKERS Emma 6-11 11-4 11-8 3-11 11-6
TSHISTJAKOVA Tatjana lost to SIBLEY Kelly 11-7 9-11 11-5 7-11 7-11

England beat India 3-1
PARKER Joanna beat DAS Mouma 11-6 11-8 13-11
SIBLEY Kelly beat GHATAK Poulomi 9-11 11-6 11-3 11-8
VICKERS Emma lost to AGGARWAL Neha 5-11 7-11 2-11
PARKER Joanna beat GHATAK Poulomi 11-7 6-11 11-6 9-11 11-4

By Malcolm Macfarlanre

[DaveR]

Updates from China................

http://www.sportfocus.com/newsimage/pd-21.jpg


Lots more superb performances from the England teams at the Evergrande Real Estate 49th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China today.

The day started as the Mens Team faced a very confident Nigerian squad, Darius Knight started and produced a superb 3 straight win over world no 106 Segun Toriola. Paul Drinkhall followed up with a 3-1 win over world no 260 Kazeem Nosiru, so to the third game and it looked all over as Danny Reed sprang to a 2 set lead against the Nigerian No 3 Monday Merotohun, the portly Nigerian is still a class player however and with his long experience he turned the match winning the last 3 sets for a 3-2 victory.
Fourth game, Paul Drinkhall returned to the fray to face Segun Toriola, again it seemed to be nicely settled as Paul took a 2 set lead, the Nigerian does not have his high rating for nothing though and the next two games dissapeared in a flash 11-5, 11-4. Into the fifth set and in a game in which neither player had a lead by more than a couple of points at any time it was Paul Drinkhall who took the game 14-12 and with it the match 3-1.

If the Mens morning result was a good one, the Womens team if anything surpassed it with a 3-2 victory over Australia in the afternoon. It defeats the memory of everybody here as to when was the last time England Women beat the Australian Women, our best guess is it must be about 25-30 years ago.

The match did not start in the Girls favour either, first game up Kelly Sibley against Lay Jian Fang, world no 148, Kelly went 2-1 up but the Australian recovered to level the game at 2-2. In the final game the score stood at 7-7, what followed was incredible, 2 unreturnable net balls and a winning edge 2 points later and the first game went to Australia 3 sets to 2.

Next up Joanna Parker who had an even stronger challenge against World no 108 Miao Miao, Joanna is defending superbly at this event and Miao Miao had no answer as Joanna stormed to a 3-0 victory, match score 1-1. After this England No 3 Emma Vickers lost a tight 4 set match to the third Australian of Chinese extraction Cho May. making the match score 2-1 to Australia.

So to the reverse singles first Kelly Sibley against Miao Miao, Kelly won the first, Miao Miao took the next two and was looking to take the match for Australia, Kelly however, utterly refused to be beaten and two 14-12 sets levelled the match at 2-2.

The final match Jo Parker against Lay Jian Fang, another superb defensive display another 3-0 win for Joanna and a 3-2 match victory over a team whose world ranking is individually far ahead of the English women.

England women thus stand top of Division 2 Group E, played 3 won 3. Individually Jo Parker played 5 won 5 so far , Kelly Sibley played 5 won 4
So to the evening match, in the Mens Team event, unbeaten Canada against unbeaten England, something had to give. Game 1 Paul Drinkhall against Shen Qiang, Paul dropped the first set but stormed through taking the next three to put England 1 up with a sound start.
Next, Darius Knight to face the other Canadian Chinese, World no 120 Zhang Peng, first set went to Darius but the Canadian raised his game and took the next three sets to level the match score at 1-1.

Third up Danny Reed against Pradeeban Peter-Paul. Danny took a tight first set and a much more comfortable second set but lost his way a bit in the third and fourth sets, so to the fifth and the usual Danny storming finish seemed to be in full swing as he stood 10-8 ahead with two of his own serves to come, it just didn't happen, two attemped backhand loops, both just caught the top of the net and then the Canadian capitalised to take the first two deuce points as well. 2-1 to Canada
So to the reverse singles Paul Drinkhall returned to the fray against Zhang Peng, Paul made nothing of a 120+ position difference in World rankings taking the game three sets to zero and leveling the match at 2-2
Final game Darius Knight against Shen Qiang, what a crazy game this was, Darius 10-0 down in the first lost 11-1, next game 11-4 to Daruis, and the third went to Darius also 11-9. it was not to be however as the talented Shen Qiang took advantage of Darius' poor starts in several sets and claimed the last two sets 11-8, 11-8 for a 3-2 set win in the game and a 3-2 victory for Canada.
A dissapointing finish to what has been a superb 2 days, we certainly had a good chance against Canada but it was not to be. England Men lie in second place in the group tied with Nigeria who they have already beaten so all is still to play for in this 2nd Division Group H. Individually so far, Paul Drinkhall has played 5 won 5, Darius Knight played 4 won 2 and Danny Reed played 3 won 1
Only two games tomorrow, first the Women face Denmark in the early afternoon and then the Men face Israel in the late afternoon match.

Results

Mens Team
Nigeria lost to England 1-3

TORIOLA Segun lost to KNIGHT Darius 9-11 7-11 9-11
NOSIRU Kazeem lost to DRINKHALL Paul 4-11 9-11 11-7 9-11
MEROTOHUN Monday beat REED Daniel 6-11 13-15 11-8 13-11 11-3
TORIOLA Segun lost to DRINKHALL Paul 11-13 9-11 11-5 11-4 12-14
England lost to Canada 2-3

DRINKHALL Paul beat SHEN Qiang 8-11 11-7 11-8 11-8
KNIGHT Darius lost to ZHANG Peng 11-3 4-11 8-11 7-11
REED Daniel lost to PETER-PAUL Pradeeban 13-11 11-3 3-11 7-11 10-12
DRINKHALL Paul beat ZHANG Peng 11-7 11-9 11-4
KNIGHT Darius lost to SHEN Qiang 1-11 11-4 11-9 8-11 8-11

Womens Team
England beat Australia 3-2
SIBLEY Kelly lost to LAY Jian Fang 9-11 11-8 11-4 7-11 7-11
PARKER Joanna beat MIAO Miao 11-9 11-9 11-6
VICKERS Emma lost to CHO May (Yuen-Wern) 7-11 16-14 8-11 10-12
SIBLEY Kelly beat MIAO Miao 12-10 5-11 6-11 14-12 14-12
PARKER Joanna beat LAY Jian Fang 11-7 12-10 11-6



By Malcolm Macfarlane

Courtesy of ETTA

[DaveR]

http://www.sportfocus.com/newsimage/ks3.jpg



Only the one match at the Evergrande Real Estate 49th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China today.
The England Women were fighting to keep their unbeaten record intact against a Luxembourg Team headed by World No 39 Ni Xia Lian.
In the first game Ni Xia Lian showed exactly why she is rated so highly with a clinical victory by 3 sets to 1 over Joanna Parker, Joanna did win the third 11-9 but the other three games were easily won by the Luxembourg Chinese.
Kelly Sibley followed against the Luxembourg No 2, Simone Haan, first set went to Kelly quite comfortably but Haan responded to get ahead in the second and although Kelly got it back to 9-10 she could not stop the loss of the second set, the third was tight as well with Kelly taking the third set on deuce but then she won the 4th set easily. Match score 1-1
Third match Emma Vickers against Carole Hartmann, the first set was very open and Emma dominated winning 11-4 but unfortunately the Luxembourg coach put a stop to that, everything concentrated on the Vickers backhand with just the odd shot wide to the forehand. The difference was astounding and Emma never got on top again in any of the next three sets which all went to Hartmann. Match Score 2-1 to Luxembourg.
All over you might think, next match Kelly Sibley against Ni Xia Lian, nobody told Kelly she couldn't do it however, The Luxembourg Chinese is a penhold blocker/hitter who twiddles between longer and short pimples up close to the table, in short a nightmare to play, Ni Xi Lian won the first easily but from then on Kelly ruled the day, she won the second, lost the third close but after that she was scarcely ever headed, she kept the pressure on with superbly controlled aggression and Nia Xi Lian just could not dominate as she likes to. Fourth set, 11-6 and fifth set, 11-7 to Kelly Sibley for the win of her career to date and of course it brought the match score back to 2-2 and everything had changed.
Final game Joanna Parker against Simone Haan, Haan fought all the way but Joanna was chopping and hitting superbly mainly at the right times and a 3 straight set victory sealed the match for England 3 games to 2.
England still undefeated here in Guangzhou and they are now guaranteed a final finishing position between 25th and 28th but all their eyes will be firmly set on 25th place and promotion to the top division in the next World team Championships which will be in Moscow in 2010. Tomorrow afternoon their next opponents in that journey will be Canada.
The England men had the day off today, but tomorrow they start the same journey as the Women with a match against Ukraine, Ukraine, like so many other teams have a Chinese player in their squad. One that is well known to English regulars on the Grand Prix Circuit, a few years ago now, after his time in England as part of the Grove Club, Kou Lei.
The Women have shown that anything is possible and it is to be hoped that this will be the watchword over the next three days for both Teams.
Results

Womens Team
Luxembourg lost to England 2-3
NI Xia Lian beat PARKER Joanna 11-4 9-11 11-4 11-2
HAAN Simone lost to SIBLEY Kelly 6-11 11-9 12-14, 1-11
HARTMANN Carole beat VICKERS Emma 4-11 11-6 11-6 11-7
NI Xia Lian lost to SIBLEY Kelly 11-4 6-11 11-9 7-11 6-11
HAAN Simone lost to PARKER Joanna 6-11 9-11 7-11

ETTA News

[Spongebob!]

Well done to the England ladies and a brilliant result by Kelly :laola:

Spongey

[TheMoose]

Some more from China, Women still doing well, although Drinksy lost.

Another stupendous win here this afternoon from the England Womens Team at the Evergrande Real Estate 49th World Team Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China.
They beat Canada in a tremendous match to claim one of the two promotion slots to the Championship Division in the next World Championships which will be in 2010 in Moscow.

It is worth noticing that at these Championships in Guangzhou the Women have beaten virtually all of their Commonwealth contenders themselves and in fact will only have Commonwealth Champions Singapore above them in the final placings. Roll on the Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow next year on these performances.
The Womens Team have just one more mountain to climb as they face Serbia tomorrow to determine who lifts the Division 2 winners trophy to add to the promotion already achieved. The Girls have climbed so many mountains already nobody would dare to say it's impossible.
The match against Canada was a classic, first up Joanna Parker against Judy Long . The Canadian, world ranked just below Joanna at No 283 was superb against Joanna's defence keeping long looping rallies going for just as long as necessary to produce the opening for a devastating shot. Joanna won the 2nd and 3rd sets defending superbly but the Canadian was unstoppable in the fifth set. Match score 1-0 to Canada.
Second up Kelly Sibley against the world no 138 Zhang Mo, Kelly continued to play as she has all week, with an intensity and power from both wings that has dominated players much higher in the rankings. Zhang Mo found the same problem as others had before and Kelly leveled the match 1-1 winning by 3 sets to 1 having dropped the first set to the Canadian

Third game and Emma Vickers could not cope at all with the immaculate flat hitting of Sara Yuen, the Canadian took the match in three comfortable sets.
So to match 4, world no 138 Zhang Mo against Joanna Parker, first set to the highly ranked Canadian comfortably, the second went to Zhang Mo as well but was much closer. In the third game Joanna had a terrible start but she clawed her way back from 8-2 down to take the third set in what was the turning point of the match. From that point on Joanna, with superb defending and an often winning hitting game always had the Canadian worried and Joanna took the next 2 sets as well for another unexpected win over a much higher ranked player.
As yesterday the fifth game was there for England to take if they could and Kelly Sibley showed she had no intention to let it slip, in the first two sets Kelly was always on top of Judy Long but the third set was much closer with Kelly coming back to deuce. Kelly was serving first in the deuce games and finally, after 6 or 7 match points from her own service, she finally put a superb forehand down the line on the Canadians backhand side off her service and England once again had performed superbly to take a match they might have expected to lose by 3 games to 2.
Roll on Slovakia!! - It will be tough Eva Odorova is world ranked 96 and Lenka Kmotorkova 202. Both well above our Girls current rankings though that will alter considerably after these championships due to the string of unexpected wins, produced especially by Kelly Sibley, but Joanna Parker has also had some good wins as well which will boost her ranking too
The Mens Team could not match the success of the Women earlier in the day. The faced Ukraine for whom Aleksandr Didukh, world no 146 was always favorite to win both his matches and the key for the team was to take all the games from the 2 and 3 players. They had lost 3-1 to Ukraine at the previous World Championships in Bremen 2006, could they reverse that defeat?
It didn't quite work out, First Game Didukh against Darius Knight, Darius did take the third set to duece but that was all he could do against a dominant performance from the Ukranian. Second match up was Ivan Katkov against Paul Drinkhall, Katkov had beaten Paul at the previous Team Championships in Bremen but it was to be a different story today, it was tight, Paul won the first two sets, Katkov replied with the next two but it was Paul Drinkhall who took the deciding fifth set to level the match at 1-1.
The third game was going to be the key, Danny Reed against Kou Lei, first set was all Danny - until the end, he was 10-5 up but Kou Lei retrieved the deficit and took the set 13-11. Danny then proceeded to win the next two sets very comfortably but Kou Lei took the 4th on Deuce (a match point went astray here as well for Danny) and then Kou Lei dominated the 5th set, Match score 1-2 to Ukraine
Paul Drinkhall therefore had the daunting task of beating world no 146 Aleksandr Didukh to keep the match alive, all three sets were close but the Ukranian always had the upper hand as he had with Darius winning 3-0 and taking the match for the Ukraine 3 games to 1, just as it had been in Bremen
The Mens Team therefore are now competing for positions 29-32 and will face a match against Turkey tomorrow in that competition.
Results
Mens team
Ukraine beat England 3-1
DIDUKH Aleksandr beat KNIGHT Darius 11-6 11-6 14-12
KATKOV Ivan lost to DRINKHALL Paul 8-11 9-11 11-9 11-8 8-11
KOU Lei beat Danny Reed 13-11 4-11 6-11 14-12 11-6
DIDUKH Aleksandr beat DRINKHALL Paul 11-8 11-8 11-9
Womens team
England beat Canada 3-2
PARKER Joanna lost to LONG Judy (Zhu) 9-11v11-8 11-9 7-11 8-11
SIBLEY Kelly beat ZHANG Mo 7-11 11-6 11-6 11-5
VICKERS Emma lost to YUEN Sara 2-11 4-11 8-11
PARKER Joanna beat ZHANG Mo 2-11 9-11 11-7 12-10 11-7
SIBLEY Kelly beat LONG Judy (Zhu) 11-3 11-9 20-18


ETTA

[Hovis Bread Eater]

Well done to England Women beating Slovakia 3-2 and winning Division Two.

[DaveR]

Women do well again !

http://www.sportfocus.com/newsimage/team%20england1.JPG


The England Womens Team finished their competition, as they had done time upon time throughout, with another superb win. Facing the Slovak Republic another nail biting victory was in store. Kelly Sibley started proceedings against Barbora Balazova and in a well fought game she took the win by 3 sets to 1.
Joanna Parker however found the youthful talents of the top Slovak junior Jana Medrikova just too powerful, well spun and consistent and although Joanna took the third set the Slovak always had the edge.
The Slovak Replibic played their strongest player, in world ranking terms at least, at No 3 against Emma Vickers, Against Lenka Kmotorkova, Emma as has been usual came close in the first game but lost it on deuce and after that the Slovak player dominated. That made the match score 1-2 to Slovak Republic.
We’ve been here before of course in these championships, 4th game Kelly Sibley to take on Jana Medrikova, Kelly was not at her sharpest after such a long grueling competition but she summoned the strength and power to take the first 2 sets, the third set was controlled by the Slovak teenager and the fourth was a real dogfight in which Kelly came out on top at deuce. Match Score 2-2
Joanna's turn again to win the final game for a team win and it looked all the way that another superb performance would seal the match easily as Joanna took the first two sets against Barbora Balazova but the Slovak was becoming more and more effective especially off a high ball, the third and fourth set went to Balazova. On to a tremendous fifth set, Joanna led early but was pegged back, Joanna then proceeded to produce some of her best attacking and defensive play of the whole week to take the final game 11-7 and with it the Division 2 Championship.

To read what the ITTF Magazine Editor, Ian Marshall, thought of the Womens performances visit the ITTF story on England (http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=14881&Category=General&Competition_ID=&)

The England Men also had their final matches today, at lunchtime they faced Turkey, both Darius Knight and Paul Drinkhall had successful five set encounters with Gencay Menge, Darius winning a close 5th set on deuce, Paul the exact opposite taking the 5th set 11-1, Paul Drinkhall added a win over Hasan Dogan in three straight sets.
In between Danny Reed lost to an old adversity from their Junior days Jiang Pengfei, Danny took the second to deuce but nothing he could do could stop the penhold attack of the Turkish player in the other three games
This win earned the England Men a rearranged match in the evening against Brazil for 29th/30th place. It was a match that never really got going, the last match in long week of play and it showed, Brazil took the match three to zero with many of the sets being won fairly easily.

To summarise; A tremendous week for the Women, playing 8 matches at this level of play and winning every one was a stupendous performance, To win the 2nd Division Championship and finish 25th is a tremendous improvement from the 39th place in Bremen and done without the support of much more experienced players.

Having two years to prepare for matches against the best teams in the world is a thought I am sure the Girls are savoring and with the improvements in playing standard of both players so obvious here in Guangzhou who is there to say that they will not be competing well in Moscow in 2010 in the Championship division. Emma Vickers found the opposition just a bit too savvy for her level as it is now. She often dominated a game but never a match.
Kelly Sibley 12 wins from 13 matches and the loss was as unlucky as it is possible to have. No less than 5 unexpected wins over much higher ranked players will guarantee Kelly a much improved ranking in the March list.
Joanna Parker, hitting so much better, defending better, 11 wins from 15 matches and Joanna also had some good unexpected wins and should improve her position in the rankings in March
Emma Vickers unfortunately lost all eight of her matches but if the confidence and power shown for short periods in her matches can be extended to a whole match then a definite improvement is possible. One must remember that this was Emma's first World Championships at the tender age of 16.
The Mens Team also improved their position from Bremen finishing 30th rather than 32nd.
Paul Drinkhall finished with the leading average having dropped only two games, he won 12 from 14
Darius Knight gave good support with 5 from 10
Danny Reed will be disappointed in his performance winning only one from 8 matches. He was in position to win at least 3 or 4 more if he had taken his opportunities.
Results
Womens team Championship Match
England beat Slovak Republic 3 - 2

SIBLEY Kelly beat BALAZOVA Barbora 11-8 11-8 8-11 11-8
PARKER Joanna lost to MEDRIKOVA Jana 7-11 8-11 11-7 7-11
VICKERS Emma lost to KMOTORKOVA Lenka 10-12 4-11 7-11
SIBLEY Kelly beat MEDRIKOVA Jana 11-9 11-5 7-11 12-10
PARKER Joanna beat BALAZOVA Barbora 11-9 12-10 9-11 8-11 11-7

Mens team
England beat Turkey 3-1
DRINKHALL Paul beat DOGAN Hasan 11-6 11-6 11-9
KNIGHT Darius beat MENGE Gencay 11-8 9-11 11-7 9-11 15-13
REED Daniel lost to JIANG Pengfei 6-11 12-10 7-11 9-11
DRINKHALL Paul beat MENGE Gencay 15-17 11-8 11-7 4-11 11-1
England lost to Brazil 0-3

DRINKHALL Paul lost to TSUBOI Gustavo 11-4 8-11 5-11 2-11
KNIGHT Darius lost to MONTEIRO Thiago 5-11 11-9 6-11 4-11
REED Daniel lost to MATSUMOTO Cazuo 4-11 11-5 3-11 3-11


Courtesy of ETTA

[Spongebob!]

Well done to both England Sides - a very successful tournament with some outstanding team and individual performances.

All players will be better for the experience they have gained and will hopefully take this experience into future games, tournaments and championships.

Spongey!:dance3:

[Mr Wilko]

Well done to England Women beating Slovakia 3-2 and winning Division Two.


hovis you look different in your photo from last time i saw you ?????

[DaveR]

England doing well.................Table Tennis in China

After an impressive display at the World Team table Tennis Championships in China, where both our male and female players disposed of many significantly higher ranked opponents, four English players have really climbed the world rankings.

Paul Drinkhall
U18. In his last year in this category Paul has now reached 4th (previously 6th)
U21. He has moved from 31st to 21st.
Men. Paul has reached a significant landmark breaking into the top 200, climbing from 240th to 194th.

Darius Knight.
U18. Darius is now on the cusps of breaking into the top ten moving from 12th to 11th.
U21. Now ranked 54th (was 59h).
Men. A climb of 33 places puts him in 343rd.

Kelly Sibley.
U21. She has now ranked in the top 50 moving from 53rd to 46th.
Women. After winning 12 from 13 matches at the WTTC Kelly’s climb in the women’s rankings was always going to be more impressive than in the other age groups, she has moved up from 232 to 186th.

Joanna Parker.
U21. She is getting closer to a top 50 ranking moving to 55th from 71st.
Women. Joanna has climbed into the 233rd sport vacated by Kelly Sibley, climbing from 276th.

[Annie]

:england:

Cumon England!




Please Note: If anyone would like a Cheering Banner like the one above with your own caption on it then please just let me know and I will create one for you. :thumbsup:

[Jose]

Item from the Irish newsletter
World Championships

Do you train like this at your Club !!.
This clip captures one of the great points at the 2008 World Teams Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China. The players are Lee Jung Woo of Korea v Jun Mizutani of Japan. For the best viewing turn up the volume on your computer !!.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=DdqhNSPDk7c (http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=DdqhNSPDk7c)

[Spongebob!]

Hi Jose,

Brilliant point - I have to say there were at least 20 - 30 examples of similar points over the championships - fantastic

Spongey!!:thumbsup: